The attempt to pass the constitutional amendments, which would give the citizens the right to directly elect the President of Kosovo, has encountered the first technical and political obstacle. The Speaker of the Assembly, Albulena Haxhiu, interrupted the work of the extraordinary session this evening, as there were not enough numbers in the hall to fulfill the strict constitutional obligation.
Why did the vote fail?
During the verification of the quorum before the voting process, it became clear that despite the sufficient presence of deputies from the main Albanian parties, the essential condition for the amendment of the Constitution had not been reached due to the absences from the ranks of the minorities.
“I note that there are 93 MPs in the session, including 9 MPs from other communities, which means that the conditions for continuing to vote on the constitutional amendments have not been met. You will be notified when the conditions are met,” Haxhiu officially declared from the floor of the Assembly.
In order to approve any change in the Constitution of Kosovo, not only 2/3 of the votes of all deputies (at least 80 out of 120) is enough, but also 2/3 of the votes of the deputies representing the non-majority communities (at least 14 of the 20 reserved deputies) are necessarily required. The presence of only 9 deputies from the ranks of the minorities made it technically and legally impossible to pass the amendments at that moment.
Pending negotiations, call for session at 22:00
Despite this temporary blockade, political developments in Pristina are expected to remain intense during the late hours of the night. The suspension of the session is being used as a window of time for intensive negotiations with representatives of non-majority communities to secure the 5 missing votes.
Speaker Haxhiu has made a clear appeal to the legislators not to leave the institution.
“There will be another session, so I invite you to stay in the premises of the Assembly. The session will be at 22:00,” she concluded, confirming that the majority’s efforts to finalize this reform are not yet closed for today.
