Overview
- On Saturday, Aug. 8, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo MP Time Kadrijaj hurled eggs at caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti during a parliamentary session, prompting security to intervene, the session to be suspended, and the live feed to be cut.
- Kurti had just asked for more time to seek agreement on a candidate for speaker and a president so as to avoid new elections, and the confrontation came immediately after that request.
- Kurti’s Vetevendosje party won a plurality in June with 53 of 120 seats but needs 61 votes to elect a speaker and form a working majority, leaving coalition talks with parties such as the LDK and PDK deadlocked.
- Kosovo’s rules require Parliament to be constituted within 30 days of certified results and set a two-month deadline to elect a president, and missed time limits have raised the real risk of an automatic snap election even as legal consequences remain unclear.
- The episode underscored growing political polarization and shrinking norms in the assembly, footage of the attack went viral after the MP posted it, and the next steps to watch are whether Parliament reconvenes, whether legal challenges are filed, and whether talks produce the 61 votes needed to avoid another poll.