During a press conference on Friday, the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, was asked by journalists why Vetëvendosje did not nominate Vjosa Osmani for president.

Kurti said he already knew that Osmani would not secure the necessary quorum.

“We tried to find a consensus figure, and the path for party proposals was initiated by the main opposition party, Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which was not our preference. When they said that only party proposals would be made and the deadline for submitting at least one proposal from our side was approaching, we came up with the name of Glauk Konjufca.

We already knew in advance that neither the current president nor a potential president could guarantee the quorum. This became clear last night with only 66 MPs present. In this situation, we cooperated with other parties. This is the main reason why we acted as we did, and in the end we reached a situation where the current president was not a candidate.

We have met hundreds of times with the president during these more than five years. We have had countless discussions. We maintain transparency in processes, but at the same time we must preserve the confidentiality of conversations. We have had many discussions. She is the head of state while I am the prime minister, and now is not the time for me to make public political discussions with the country’s president. If one day, as has been suggested, she returns to politics, that would be a different situation,” Kurti said.

He was also asked about President Vjosa Osmani’s statement that “dangerous people have brought the country to this situation.” Kurti reminded journalists that Osmani did not mention any names.

“If the President did not mention names, I do not know why you think of me. But even if you are right, you should ask her,” Kurti said.