Kosovo Parliament has approved the country’s new government led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti. 66 MPs in the 120-seat parliament voted pro, 10 abstained, and part of the opposition left before the voting took place.
The government will include 15 ministers, 12 of which will be equally shared between the two largest coalition partners, Lëvizja Vetëvendosje Party of Albin Kurti and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of Isa Mustafa. Three ministries will be led by representatives of ethnic minorities.
- Prime Minister Albin Kurti (LVV);
- Minister of Defense Anton Çuni (LDK);
- Minister of Infrastructure Lumir Abdixhiku (LDK);
- Minister of Agriculture Besian Mustafa (LDK);
- Minister of Education Hykmete Bajrami (LDK);
- Minister of Interior Agim Veliu (LDK);
- Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Vlora Dumoshi (LDK);
- Minister of Administration and Local Government Emilia Rexhepi (NDS Bosniak minority party);
- Minister of Communities and Returns Dalitbor Jetvić (Serb List);
- Minister of Rural Development Ivan Milojević (Serb List);
- Minister of Foreign Affairs Glauk Konjufca (LVV);
- Minister Justice Albulena Haxhiu (LVV);
- Minister of Finance Besnik Bislimi (LVV);
- Minister of Economy Rozeta Hajdari (LVV);
- Minister of Health Arben Vitia (LVV);
- Minister of European Integration Blerim Reka (LVV);
Avdullah Hoti (LDK) and Haki Abazi (LVV) will be Deputy Prime Ministers.
Today’s vote came after long hours of speeches by a number of MPs. The opposition parties attacked Kurti and LVV’s alleged inconsistent stance toward a number of issues, including their previous attacks against the LDK and its leader Isa Mustafa, Kurti’s statement that Konjufca would not be removed as Speaker of Parliament, that the Serb List Party would not be part of the government, and several other statements regarding the future dialogue with Serbia.
The vote also came after more than 4-month-long negotiations between the LVV and LDK. On Sunday, one day ahead of the parliamentary vote and two days before the deadline for Kurti to get his government approved, leaders of both parties signed a coalition agreement. The newly elected Speaker of Parliament Glauk Konjufca of LVV would be replaced by LDK’s Vjosa Osmani, according to the agreement, and the number of ministries would go up from 12 to 15.
Update: The number of votes pro the Kurti government was previously reported as 86, following the parliament administration’s wrong report in live broadcast. 66 MPs actually voted for the new government.
