PRISTINA (Kosovo), April 29 (SeeNews) – Kosovo's second biggest party in parliament - the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) - and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) have signed a coalition agreement, AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj said on Wednesday.
A new coalition government led by LDK can be voted in parliament in the coming days, Haradinaj said in a video file posted on Facebook, adding that AAK is expected to have four ministries and a deputy prime minister.
The two parties have only 41 MPs in the 120-seat parliament but local media have quoted the head of the LDK parliamentary group, Arben Gashi, as saying the parliamentary majority needed to elect the new government has been secured as representatives of smaller parties have pledged their support.
The new government will be backed by at least 64 MPs of LDK, AAK, the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA), New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and the Serb minorities, public broadcaster RTK reported on Monday, citing Gashi.
According to reports in local media, LDK will nominate Avdullah Hoti for prime minister.
Last month, a coalition government led by the Self-Determination Movement (VV) collapsed after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament.
In late March, Kosovo's coalition government led by VV lost a no-confidence vote requested by its main coalition partner, LDK, after nearly two months in office.
The coalition partners held different views on how the coronavirus crisis should be handled and whether customs duties imposed on imports from Serbia should be removed completely. Tension between the two parties ran high after Kurti fired then-interior minister Agim Veliu of LDK for acting contrary to the government measures against the coronavirus outbreak.
Kurti's cabinet was formed in early February after the winner of the October 6 snap election, VV, and second-ranked centre-right LDK agreed on a coalition. The October 6 election was called after former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj stepped down in July 2019 to appear for questioning as suspect before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. The institution is investigating crimes committed during the 1990s guerrilla war waged by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians against Serbia's government forces.
Kosovo, considered to be a potential candidate for EU membership by the European Commission, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has so far has been recognised by more than half of the 193 UN member states. Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo's independence.