The President of the Academy of Sciences, Justina Shiroka Pulaj, was elected President of Kosovo with 81 votes, during the session of the Assembly held in the late hours of this evening. Voting in the Assembly of Kosovo thus avoided the dissolution of the Parliament and going to early elections.
Pula received the necessary support of the deputies, being elected at the head of the Presidency of Kosovo. Eliza Hoxha, deputy of PDK, was also in the running for the post of President.
With the participation of deputies of the Vetëvendosje Movement, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, a quorum of over 80 deputies was secured in the hall, in which case Shiroka Pula received the necessary votes to be elected the new president of the country.
This solution came after a series of statements and public clashes during the evening hours. Initially, Prime Minister Albin Kurti had proposed voting on the law in exchange for PDK’s vote for Glauk Konjufca or Feride Rushiti, an offer that was rejected by PDK’s leader, Bedri Hamza. Later, Kurti came up with a modified proposal, proposing the name Shiroka Pula.
So, in the Assembly of Kosovo, the law on Specialized Chambers was also voted this evening.
How new elections were avoided
The session started about an hour before midnight, after the political parties agreed on the voting procedure. Initially, the MPs approved with an accelerated procedure the avoidance of the regular period of 72 hours between two readings and voted the Draft Law on Specialized Chambers, which the day before had passed the first reading with the support of 91 MPs. This law addresses issues related to legal protection and financial support for persons facing legal proceedings in The Hague.
Immediately after that, the Assembly moved to the voting procedure for the new head of state. There were two candidates in the race: professor Justina Shiroka Pula and PDK deputy Eliza Hoxha, who was formally proposed by her party to fulfill the constitutional requirement for the presence of at least two candidates in the process.
