Kosovo parliament elects new president, avoiding snap election
The last-minute vote followed a deal to curb a Hague war crimes court and avoided automatic dissolution of parliament.
- In the early minutes of Oct 7, Parliament elected Justina Shiroka Pula as Kosovo's president, securing 81 votes—one more than the required parliamentary majority.
- Her selection followed a deal between Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje and the Democratic Party to restrict the powers of a Hague-based war crimes court.
- Police fired tear gas and used water cannons on Monday to disperse demonstrators demanding approval of legislative changes concerning the Hague-based court.
- Shiroka Pula, president of the Academy of Sciences and Arts, said after the vote, "This mandate does not belong to just one person. I will be the president of all citizens."
- The presidency is largely ceremonial in the Balkan country, but the election prevented snap parliamentary elections that would have triggered if parties failed to reach consensus.
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132 Articles
The opposition voted for the presidential candidate on the condition that parliament would vote to limit the jurisdiction of the Kosovo Tribunal in The Hague. It is unclear how much impact that decision actually has on the functioning of the tribunal.
Justina Siroka Pula was elected as the new president of Kosovo by a narrow majority, ending a period of political uncertainty and preventing the possibility of new early parliamentary elections in the country.
In the early hours of Wednesday, the Kosovar Parliament agreed to elect the new head of state, narrowly avoiding fourth legislatures in less than two years.
The Kosovo Parliament elected a new president, thereby effectively saving the country from the next early election, a position that was given to economist Justin Shirok Pul.
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