After more than a month of waiting, the deputies of the Assembly of Kosovo have gathered to continue the constitutive session of the 11th legislature.

The session is chaired by Avni Dehari, while the agenda includes the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speakers of the Assembly.

The Vetëvendosje Movement is expected to re-nominate Albulena Haxhiu for Speaker of the Assembly. The Democratic Party of Kosovo is expected to nominate Vlora Çitaku for Vice-Speaker, while the Democratic League of Kosovo is expected to nominate Kujtim Shala.

The continuation of the session comes after a political deadlock and exceeding the constitutional deadline for the constitution of the Assembly, writes KosovaPress. The 30-day deadline expired on August 7, while the last session was held a day later. Since then, the Assembly has not convened to complete the constitution process.

The chairman of the session, Avni Dehari, announced on September 4 that he would call the continuation for today, following the agreement reached between the Vetëvendosje Movement and the Democratic League of Kosovo on the issue of the president.

However, Dehari admitted that there is still no complete clarity on whether the necessary number of MPs exists to complete the process.

He had requested that the agreement between the two parties be accompanied by concrete responsibilities and the willingness of the deputies to fulfill their constitutional obligations, emphasizing that the country does not need another delay in the process.

The VV and the LDK have reached an agreement for university professor Bekim Sejdiu to be a joint candidate for president. However, the agreement has been opposed by six LDK MPs, raising questions about whether there are enough votes to make it happen.

Despite criticism for exceeding the constitutional deadline, PDK and LDK have confirmed their participation in today's session.

Unlike these two parties, the Alliance has decided not to participate.

After the meeting of the Alliance Presidency on Tuesday, its chairman, Ardian Gjini, declared that the decision to not participate has received the support of the overwhelming majority of MPs and members of the Presidency.

According to Gjin, participating in the session would mean legitimizing what the Alliance considers a violation of the Constitution.

He said that the Assembly could be constituted today, but warned that if the process is carried out without respecting constitutional procedures, the matter could end up in the Constitutional Court again.

To constitute the Assembly, the President and five Vice-Presidents must be elected. The President is proposed by the largest parliamentary group and requires at least 61 votes from the deputies for his election.

Three vice-presidents are proposed by the three largest parliamentary groups, while the other two positions belong to non-majority communities, one from the Serb community and one from other communities.

If the deputies manage to elect the speaker and vice-speakers, the process of constituting the Assembly will be concluded and the way will be opened for other steps to make the new institutions functional. /KosovaPress/