PRISTINA (Kosovo), January 20 (SeeNews) – Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said on Monday he has mandated Albin Kurti, the leader of the Self-Determination Movement (VV), to form a government after his left-wing party won the October 6 snap vote.
The prime minister designate has 15 days to put together a government and get parliament's backing for it, Thaci said in a Facebook post.
Over the past two months VV, which has 29 MPs in the 120-seat parliament, has been holding coalition talks with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), which controls 28 seats.
The future government needs to be endorsed by at least 61 MPs to take office.
Former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj stepped down in July after he was summoned 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.