Pristina, 16 April, 2025
Dear Deputy Prime Ministers, Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Dear employees of the Office of Prime Minister,
Dear media present,
Dear citizens,
The constitution of the Assembly yesterday was made impossible because the opposition parties, PDK, LDK, Srpska Lista and AAK, did not vote for the verification of their mandates as deputies.
Essentially, those who did not accept to formally take the mandate of deputy, are asking me to formally not be Prime Minister.
Our government, this government cabinet, has been in office and effectively resigned since March 23 of this year when we have fulfilled our regular and full four-year mandate. From that day until the election of the new government by the ninth legislature of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, our Government exercises all the responsibilities that belong to the executive branch in accordance with the legislation in force. This places the government in a caretaker role, to guarantee the continuity, security and uninterrupted functioning of our state, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of the Republic.
In addition to fulfilling the full governing mandate that places us in a caretaker role until the formation of the new government, I, on behalf of the government cabinet, yesterday addressed the Assembly of our Republic with a letter through which I informed it of the status of our government after March 23, 2025 and of my resignation from the executive position, effective only from that date and according to the Constitution and the laws in force.
More than that, it is not possible to resign. More than that, it would be an abandonment of the institution, an institutional vacuum, political irresponsibility and a threat to national security. It is a request and insistence, to put it mildly reckless, to leave the house without a landlord.
Dear citizens,
The Law on Government makes it clear that a government in resignation continues to exercise its responsibilities (Article 30), although limited (Article 31), until the election of a new government. The meeting today, and the exercise of other government powers, are fully permissible, even mandatory, according to the Law.
So, we have limited functions but in no way can there be a suspension of functioning. The state cannot have a vacuum of governance. The government cannot have a suspension of functioning.
We have the example from the past of former Prime Minister Thaçi, who, although he had taken the oath of office as a deputy in July 2014, continued to be the acting Prime Minister until December of that year when the new government was voted in.
We have the example of former Prime Minister Haradinaj who resigned in July 2019, only to continue as acting Prime Minister until the election of the Kurti 1 Government in February 2020.
We also have the example of former Prime Minister Hoti, who remained in office until the formation of the Kurti 2 Government in March 2021, despite the fact that his government was declared illegal by the Constitutional Court in December 2020.
So in our history of the formation of institutions, we have examples from the past when a government led by PDK – albeit with a dissolved parliament -, a government led by AAK – albeit resigned -, and a government led by LDK – albeit declared illegal – have remained in office until the formation of a new government. But a government led by the VETËVENDOSJE Movement! – even though it has fulfilled its regular four-year mandate – is required to leave its offices as soon as possible?!
As the undisputed winners of the February 9, 2025 elections, we are very interested in moving forward towards the formation of the institutions of the ninth legislature, and as soon as possible, immediately.
As the government in office, we are very careful and responsible not to allow an institutional vacuum, not for a day, not for an hour, not even for a single minute.
Despite the irresponsible opposition calls yesterday for the suspension of the state, the state functions: from the arrest of Serbian criminals, to the digitalization of fiscal cash registers and to the publication in Shkodra of the Pristina-Durres railway project with 14 tunnels, 43 bridges, 7 new stations and a length of almost 106 kilometers.
The state is still functioning today with the decisions that we have before us on the agenda for the 258th meeting, in which we will have for review the new Board of Directors of the Public Enterprise “Regional Water Supply Company Hidroregjioni Jugor”, the loan for the Kosovo Telecom, the Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Advancement of the Rights of the Roma and Ashkali Communities, the preliminary proposal for the expropriation for public interest of immovable properties for the needs of the Central Security Institutions of the Republic of Kosovo in the Municipality of Prizren and Malisheva, and so on.
I assure the citizens that beyond the opposition noise and some media of the former regime and the oligarchs who have even gone so far as to register businesses in Serbia, the Republic of Kosovo, our homeland, is moving forward in economy and democracy, with honor, with law and with security and peace for all.
Thank you.
Last modified: April 16, 2025