Kosovo PM challenges parliament dissolution

PRISTINA:

Kosovo's prime minister Albin Kurti said Friday he would challenge a decision to dissolve parliament, as a year-long political crisis deepened in Europe's youngest country.

Earlier on Friday, President Vjosa Osmani announced the dissolution after lawmakers failed to choose her potential replacement, with her term ending in one month's time.

Osmani said that, under the constitution, she had no choice but to make the decision and to schedule fresh elections, which would be the third national vote in just over a year.

"This situation was completely avoidable. It is a great misfortune that those representatives did not choose the interest of the people," Osmani told reporters.

But within hours, Kurti filed a challenge with the country's Constitutional Court, arguing that the presidential vote had not been fully completed.

"We cannot talk about new elections without the Constitution having its say," he said in a press conference in the capital Pristina.

The 50-year-old statesman said that due to opposition MPs being absent from Thursday's parliament session, two further voting rounds could not be completed before parliament was adjourned.

He called for the court to roll back the dissolution while they considered the appeal.

"We are awaiting the decision of the Constitutional Court," he said.

The court confirmed it had received the appeal, but did not comment further.

It is the latest development in a political crisis that has gripped the Balkan nation since an inconclusive general election early last year.

Kurti's party was left without a majority in last February's election despite topping the polls, leading to months of parliamentary stasis.

A bitterly divided lawmakers eventually forced a snap election in December, which his party also won.

Last month, Kurti appeared poised for a third term after being elected to the position with the support of some ethnic minority parties, but he still lacked the numbers needed to install his preferred president.