Kosovo government loses no-confidence vote, coalition fails

Opposition parties have blamed Mustafa’s Cabinet for being unable to carry out its program and pass important laws.

“The country is badly governed. The country needs a new government,” said Valdete Bajrami of the opposition Initiative for Kosovo party, which proposed the no-confidence motion.

The government has been hobbled by its inability to secure a parliamentary majority to back a border demarcation deal with neighbouring Montenegro.

The United States has pressed Kosovo to pass a border demarcation deal with neighbouring Montenegro, which remains the last obstacle before the European Union accepts to let Kosovar citizens travel visa-free in its Schengen member countries.

The deal was signed in 2015, and Mustafa withdrew a draft ratification bill last year. The opposition has claimed that Kosovo would lose territory under the agreement, an accusation denied by the government and local and international experts.

Before the vote, Mustafa had argued that the consequence of a no-confidence vote would be “the country’s destabilization through creating a lack of trust in institutions, and an institutional vacuum.”

The 2 1/2-year-old governing coalition was made up of Mustafa’s Democratic League of Kosovo, which holds the second-largest number of seats in the 120-seat parliament. The Democratic Party of Kosovo of Speaker Kadri Veseli currently has the most members in parliament.

The partnership was formed as a last resort when neither of two parties was able to form a Cabinet on its own after the 2014 parliamentary election.

The no-confidence vote suggests a breakdown between the two governing partners. Speaker Veseli posted a tweet on Wednesday afternoon saying Kosovo needs a new beginning and the no-confidence vote would “open exciting new chapters of our history.”

Veseli posted a video message informally launching a parliamentary election campaign, blaming Mustafa for the no-confidence vote.

Mustafa responded that his government and party prevented “state degradation and released it from crime claws.”

The United States embassy in Pristina pledged its continuing “steadfast support for Kosovo, its citizens, and its path to full Euro-Atlantic integration.”

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It is recognized by 114 countries, but not by Serbia.

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Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.

Sylejman Kllokoqi And Llazar Semini, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Kosovo government loses no-confidence vote, coalition fails

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