For years, the Vetëvendosje Movement (LVV) and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) have been among the main rivals on Kosovo’s political scene.
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LVV has built part of its political identity through criticism of PDK-led governments.
However, faced with the risk of new elections, the two parties found common ground in Justina Shiroka Pula, a former PDK minister whom LVV nominated for president.
The agreement was reached in the final hours of the constitutional deadline for electing the head of state. The same compromise also included amendments to the Law on the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, proposed by PDK and previously opposed by LVV because of their potential consequences.
Shiroka Pula received 81 votes to be elected president, while the legislative amendments passed with 88 votes.
The episode raised questions about why a former PDK official had become acceptable to LVV, as well as about the nature of the agreement: did it signal a rapprochement between the two parties, or merely a temporary alignment of interests?
On the evening of October 6, protesters outside Kosovo’s Assembly were demonstrating against the law governing the operation of the Specialist Court in The Hague.
The situation was tense following clashes the previous night. Police had used tear gas and water cannons, while protesters had thrown stones and pyrotechnics.
Inside the Assembly building, lawmakers faced pressure to elect the president. Failure to do so could have sent the country into new parliamentary elections, its fourth in less than two years.
LVV needed PDK’s votes to elect the president, while PDK sought LVV’s support for amendments to the law concerning the Specialist Court. Despite this mutual dependence, the two parties’ public statements remained confrontational.
Prime Minister and LVV leader Albin Kurti accused PDK of refusing the meetings needed to reach an agreement.
“Besides not wanting cooperation, they now do not even want a meeting. So how can an agreement be sought without a meeting, without discussion, without cooperation?” Kurti said.
PDK leader Bedri Hamza saw the problem differently, saying the meetings held had failed to produce the necessary seriousness.
“We have had enough meetings. I have been in the Assembly. I have been here all day. But when positions change during meetings, it is difficult to reach an agreement. There is no seriousness,” he said.
Although the clashes continued, LVV kept putting forward new proposals.
In just over eight hours, Kurti held three press conferences, presenting different names and conditions for reaching an agreement.
The first name proposed was Bekim Sejdiu. Kurti then mentioned Glauk Konjufca or Feride Rushiti, linking each presidential nomination to approval of the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Court.
During his third public appearance, he put forward Justina Shiroka Pula’s candidacy.
Bedri Hamza said that although PDK had not had an opportunity to speak with Shiroka Pula, her name was acceptable to the party.
Within minutes of that statement, representatives of the two parties shook hands.
The Assembly first approved the legislative amendments and then proceeded to the presidential vote. There were two candidates: Justina Shiroka Pula and Eliza Hoxha.
With 81 votes, Shiroka Pula was elected president and took the oath of office in the first minutes of October 7.
After taking the oath, she said she would be president of all citizens, regardless of political, ethnic or social differences, and would work for unity, justice, development and stronger institutions.
Each of the two parties interpreted the agreement as an outcome in its favor.
PDK secured support for amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers, a key demand of protesters following the verdict against four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.
Meanwhile, LVV succeeded in electing the president and avoided the possibility of another election.
Arbërie Nagavci, head of LVV’s parliamentary group, acknowledged that avoiding new elections was part of the party’s political calculations.
She also said LVV remained skeptical about the impact that amendments to the Law on the Specialist Court could have on the sentences of the former KLA leaders.
Nagavci told Radio Free Europe’s Expose program that the party had voted for Shiroka Pula believing she would carry out her presidential duties with a strong sense of responsibility.
She said the candidacy was supported because of Shiroka Pula’s professional qualifications, integrity and experience.
Nagavci said the new president understood the need to remain above political parties.
The president herself has not publicly provided details about how she became a candidate. She has not said whether she was consulted by political parties beforehand or what persuaded her to accept Kurti’s proposal.
PDK also offered no detailed explanation for its support.
Party officials did not respond to Radio Free Europe’s questions about whether Shiroka Pula’s candidacy had been discussed before Kurti’s proposal and what had made her acceptable.
However, her name had previously circulated in discussions about the presidency.
In March, as the parties were looking for a successor to Vjosa Osmani, the newspaper KOHA reported that Shiroka Pula was among the figures who enjoyed support within PDK as a consensus candidate.
When she was elected president, she had been away from active politics for more than 12 years.
Her political career was linked to PDK and Hashim Thaçi’s government.
From 2008 to 2011, Shiroka Pula headed the Ministry of Energy and Mining, at a time when the government was advancing the “Kosova e Re” power plant project.
After that, she served as a PDK lawmaker in Kosovo’s Assembly until 2014.
She had also reaffirmed her party affiliation in 2013, when reports suggested she might join Fatmir Limaj’s new political initiative.
Shiroka Pula denied those reports, stating that she was part of PDK’s parliamentary group and would remain there.
After leaving the Assembly, she returned to academic work as a professor of economics.
In 2016, she was elected a corresponding member of the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts. Four years later, in 2020, she became a full member.
At the end of 2025, Shiroka Pula was elected the first woman to lead the institution.
Political analyst Arben Qirezi sees her departure from active politics as one of the reasons that may explain why her candidacy was acceptable.
Speaking to Expose, Qirezi said she came to the presidency from the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts, rather than directly from PDK’s ranks.
In his view, a person’s political past should not determine whether they can hold an important public office.
Petrit Selimi, a former Kosovo foreign minister who knew Shiroka Pula when they were both members of PDK, also spoke about her independence.
Selimi described her as an independent person who cannot easily be controlled, influenced or pressured. He said she had clear positions and knew how to say both “yes” and “no” when necessary.
However, Selimi suspects that LVV may have nominated Shiroka Pula out of fear of an unfavorable result in the event of new elections.
He speculates that the party may have had polls showing its level of electoral support.
This remains only Selimi’s hypothesis and has not been confirmed as a reason behind LVV’s decision.
Arben Qirezi does not see the agreement as evidence that LVV and PDK are necessarily growing closer politically.
He said the compromise became possible because the two parties’ interests aligned at a particular moment.
Approval of the amendments to the Law on the Specialist Court and the avoidance of early elections created common ground for agreement on a more acceptable figure.
From this perspective, Shiroka Pula’s election does not indicate that differences between the two parties have disappeared or diminished. It shows only that LVV and PDK were able to cooperate on two specific objectives.
It remains unclear whether the agreement will be an isolated case or serve as a starting point for further cooperation.
Petrit Selimi believes the obstacles between the two parties do not stem solely from ideological or policy differences.
He said that, in some cases, the conflict had been fueled more by personal animosity and antagonism built up over the years.
As Selimi explained, this antagonism has also been reinforced by the political treatment of officials from previous governments, who have often been portrayed as part of the “old regime.”
For Shiroka Pula, the political agreement that brought her to the presidency is now in the past. Her task is to serve her term independently of the parties that supported her.
Kosovo’s Constitution defines the president as the head of state and the representative of the unity of the people.
The president represents Kosovo at home and abroad, exercises powers in foreign policy and is responsible for ensuring that institutions function in accordance with the Constitution.
Arben Qirezi says one of the main tests of Shiroka Pula’s term will be her ability to rise above political divisions.
He hopes the president will fulfill the unifying role of her office and, in doing so, help ease polarization in Kosovo’s society and politics.
On her first visit after taking office, Shiroka Pula stopped at three sites of symbolic importance: the Adem Jashari Memorial Complex in Prekaz, the grave of the historic president Ibrahim Rugova and the grave of activist Adem Demaçi.
These three figures represent different chapters and traditions in Kosovo’s political history.
Over the next five years, her role is expected to extend beyond the symbolism of these visits.
International developments, Kosovo’s relations with its allies and efforts to strengthen its position on the international stage will confront the president with important political and institutional issues. / RFE
