Kosovo elects Justina Shiroka Pula president, avoiding another snap election
The economist received 81 votes in parliament and was sworn in immediately afterwards. The vote came shortly before the constitutional deadline.
Kosovo's parliament elected economist Justina Shiroka Pula as the country's new president with 81 votes at an extraordinary sitting on 6 October. Kosovo's Presidency announced on 7 October that she was sworn in before lawmakers immediately after the vote.
Another snap election was avoided
The vote took place shortly before a constitutional deadline. Reuters reported that failure to elect a president would have sent the country back to an early parliamentary election. Shiroka Pula received one vote more than the required threshold of 80 in the 120-seat assembly.
Kosovo's president has a mainly institutional and representative role. However, the enhanced parliamentary majority needed for the election has repeatedly become a source of political deadlock.
What else parliament approved
At the same sitting, parliament approved by 88 votes a bill amending the legal framework for the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office in The Hague. Parliamentary passage alone does not establish that the changes are already in force; the remaining constitutional and publication stages must still be completed.
Reuters linked the presidential vote to a political agreement between the governing Vetëvendosje party and the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo. That is a news-agency report about the political negotiations, while parliament's official statement confirms the results of both votes.
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