Theparliament ofKosovo heldindirect elections forpresident of Kosovo on3 and4 April 2021. The elections successfully concluded after three rounds, withVjosa Osmani winning 71 votes out of a total possible 120. Three political parties boycotted the vote. Nasuf Bejta, also a member ofGuxo, the political party Osmani founded, was the only other candidate who received a vote during any of the other rounds.
Theconstitution states that the presidential election must be held on or before 30 days prior to the end of the current president's term. This is the fifth presidential election in Kosovo since 2008, when Kosovodeclared its independence.
Hashim Thaçi took office as president on 7 April 2016,[1] but resigned on 5 November 2020 after the Hague-basedSpecialist Chambers confirmed a war crime indictment against him.[2] Thaçi had been eligible for re-election for a second and final five-year term in 2021.[3]Speaker of the AssemblyVjosa Osmani replaced Thaçi in an acting capacity.[4]
Initially, a candidate is required to receive at least 80 votes, equivalent to two-thirds of the 120 members of theAssembly, in order to be elected.[3] However, if no candidate succeeds during the first two rounds, a third round is held between the top two candidates of the second round, and the requirement is reduced to a simple majority of 61 votes.[3][5] If the third round also does not produce a successful candidate, the Assembly is dissolved, with new elections to take place within 45 days.[3]
The first round of voting took place on the evening of 3 April 2021. In total, 82 Members of Parliament attended the parliamentary session, thus meeting the necessary quorum for the election to take place. However, when the voting concluded it was established that only 78 MPs had submitted a ballot, thereby failing to produce a quorum for the results to be valid. The first round was therefore repeated, but only 79 MPs ultimately cast their ballots, thus once more not producing a quorum. Thereafter, the MPs left the parliamentary chamber and an announcement followed shortly which stated that the voting would continue on the afternoon of 4 April.[39]
The third attempt of holding the first round took place on 4 April 2021. In all, 81 MPs cast their ballots and the quorum was thus finally reached. Of the 81 votes, 69 went toVjosa Osmani, while 12 were invalid. Nasuf Bejta did not receive any votes.[40]
Second round
The second round was held on 4 April 2021. The number of MPs who cast their ballots was 82, satisfying the quorum for validity.Vjosa Osmani received 67 votes and Nasuf Bejta received 4 votes. 11 votes were invalid.[41]
Republic of Kosova
UN-administered Kosovo
Republic of Kosovo.jpg)
