PRISTINA (Kosovo), May 29 (SeeNews) – Kosovo’s Constitutional Court upheld a presidential decree tasking Avdullah Hoti of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with the formation of a new government, the court said.
President Hashim Thaci's decision to mandate Hoti, a former deputy prime minister, to form a government is in compliance with the constitutional provisions, the court said in a statement late on Thursday.
Thaci handed Hoti a mandate for a new government on April 30 but lawmakers of the VV party of acting prime minister Albin Kurtithe challenged the move before the Constitutional Court.
LDK, the second biggest party in Kosovo's parliament, claims it has secured the parliamentary majority needed to set up a new government, Thaci said at the time.
LDK has already signed coalition agreements with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), the Social Democratic Initiative (NISMA) and Serb minorities, according to local media reports. The four parties hold 55 of 120 seats in parliament but the coalition government will be backed by smaller parties, public broadcaster RTK has reported.
In late March, the coalition government led by VV lost a no-confidence vote requested by its main coalition partner, LDK, after less than 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 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.