PRISTINA (Kosovo), May 4 (SeeNews) – Kosovo’s constitutional court said it has suspended a presidential decree nominating Avdullah Hoti of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to form a government after a coalition cabinet led by the Self-Determination Movement (VV) collapsed in March.
The constitutional court held a meeting on May 1 upon request of 30 lawmakers of VV of acting prime minister Albin Kurti arguing that president Hashim Thaci's decree handing a mandate to Hoti, a former deputy prime minister, to form a government is unconstitutional, it said in a statement on Friday.
The decree was suspended until May 29 in order to evaluate the request, the court said.
On Saturday, Kurti said he has sent a request for opinion to Venice Commission regarding the powers of the president in nominating a candidate for prime minister after the successful motion of no-confidence that brought down Kurti's cabinet in March.
“The opinion will further strengthen our constitutional democracy and rule of law,” Kurti said in a Twitter post.
Thaci handed LDK’s Hoti a mandate to form a new government on Thursday. LDK, the second biggest party in Kosovo's parliament, confirmed it has secured the parliamentary majority needed to set up a new government, Thaci said in a video file posted on Facebook.
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 reported last week.
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 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.