Kosovo’s deputies have, for the 38th time, failed to constitute the Assembly, after disagreements arose over forming a commission to conduct a secret ballot vote for the Speaker of Parliament candidate, Albulena Haxhiu.

There were 95 deputies present in the session hall.

Vlora Çitaku, an MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), accused the session chair, Avni Dehari, of abusing his position after he invited the parties to nominate one member each for the commission overseeing the secret ballot vote.

Hykmete Bajrami from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) urged Dehari to return to the original agenda with an open vote. For both these parties and several smaller ones, the shift from open to secret voting is considered unconstitutional.

Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), described the political situation in Kosovo as extremely serious and accused the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) of intentionally worsening the crisis.

This was the 39th time the deputies gathered in the Assembly chamber since April 15, although Sunday’s meeting was only a continuation of Friday’s 38th session, in which no vote took place.

The deputies had agreed not to vote, hoping that Saturday’s meeting between party leaders would yield results.

That did not happen. On June 28, representatives of political parties met and discussed the issue for over two hours, ultimately ending the meeting by blaming each other for the ongoing deadlock.