New Kosovo Assembly fails to elect its president

New Kosovo Assembly fails to elect its president

The constitutive session of the Assembly, boycotted by a large number of deputies - including those representing Serbs, and those from "the war coalition" - was interrupted once again on Friday morning, and as of Friday afternoon, it was unclear when it might resume.

The legal deadline to finish this job is August 7, and if that happens, a new government must be elected within the next 15 days.

The choice of Assembly president indicates whether the so-called "war coalition," whose candidate for prime minister is Ramush Haradinaj, can get him elected.

This coalition has only 39 out of 120 seats in the Assembly, AFP noted earlier in the day.

The Self-Determination party, described as "nationalist-leftist," came in second in the June 11 election, followed by the LDK-led coalition - both of whom are refusing to join the war coalition - "which has prevented the formation of a stable government."

The failure to vote on a speaker has left observers worried that Kosovo could be headed for fresh elections, the French agency said.