PRISTINA (Kosovo), March 23 (SeeNews) – The leader of Kosovo’s Self-Determination Movement (VV), Albin Kurti, took office as prime minister after securing the support of 67 of 120 lawmakers, parliament said.
The new government aims to secure the Covid-19 vaccine for at least 60% of Kosovo's population, the parliament quoted Kurti as saying in a press release late on Monday. He noted that the government plans to advance reforms in the justice system and the economy, as well as in health, education, and agriculture sectors.
VV won 49.95% of the votes in the snap elections held on February 14 and controls 58 seats in parliament. The new government led by Kurti was also backed by MPs representing the non-Serb ethnic minorities in Kosovo, the parliament said.
Kurti's government has 15 ministers. Hekuran Murati will be at the helm of the finance ministry, while Artane Rizvanolli will be the new economy minister.
The centre-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) is the main opposition party in parliament with 19 MPs.
Earlier on Monday, VV MP Glauk Konjufca was elected new parliament speaker, replacing Vjosa Osmani in this position, the parliament said in a separate statement. Konjufca will also be the new acting president of Kosovo.
In November, former president Hashim Thaci decided to resign as he was called to appear before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague to face war crimes charges. The speaker of parliament holds the position of acting president until the election of new president, according to the country’s constitution.
Albin Kurti won the previous election held on October 6, 2019 and in early 2020 he was elected prime minister after forming a coalition government with Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). However, in March 2020, the coalition government lost a no-confidence vote requested by LDK, after less than two months in office. Tensions between the two parties spiked after Kurti fired then-interior minister Agim Veliu of LDK for acting contrary to the government measures against the coronavirus outbreak. The coalition partners differed in their views on how the coronavirus crisis should be handled and whether customs duties imposed on imports from Serbia should be removed completely.
In June 2020 the parliament elected a coalition government led by Avdullah Hoti of LDK with the votes of 61 MPs. However, in December the Constitutional Court said one of the votes - that of Etem Arifi, MP of the Ashkali Party for Integration - was invalid because Arifi had been convicted in 2019. Thus, Hoti's government was not backed by a majority in parliament, the court said, adding that the cabinet would remain in office until new elections were held.
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.