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Kosovo Presidential Race, Arsim Bajrami Seeks Political Unity for His Candidacy
2026-02-26 18:55:23 / KOSOVA
Former Minister of Public Administration and Education, Arsim Bajrami, has expressed his willingness to run for president of Kosovo, claiming that he meets the conditions of a consensual candidate, at a time when the country must hurry to elect a new president.
The Kosovo Assembly has only until March 4 to elect a new president, as the current president, Vjosa Osmani, ends her term in April.
Bajrami sought the support of the ruling party, the Vetevendosje Movement (LVV), and the opposition parties the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), through a Facebook post on Thursday.
He said he is ready to become president by being available to the institutions, the political spectrum, and the citizens of the country as a consensual candidate.
"I am convinced that I meet the professional, political and moral conditions for a consensual candidacy in the interest of political unity and the constitutional functioning of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo," Bajrami wrote.
Bajrami – who is among the drafters of the country's Constitution – must secure at least 30 signatures from MPs to run, while two-thirds of the votes in the 120-seat Assembly are needed to be elected.
It is not clear whether he would enjoy such support. Bajrami left politics in 2019, when he resigned from the PDK after nearly two decades in the party's service.
So far, only the PDK among the political parties has said that it may come up with a candidate, but has not revealed a name, while President Osmani has made it clear that she is seeking a second five-year term.
Meanwhile, family members of Kosovo hero Adem Jashari have denied that they intend to run for president, after Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca said on Wednesday that if a name from this family were to come forward, it would be an "automatic consensus" in society.
The lack of an agreement between parliamentary parties and the uncertainty over whether Osmani will gain the necessary support to be re-elected have put the country at risk of entering a new crisis.
Failure to elect the country's president before March 4 would trigger early parliamentary elections for the second time in months.
Kosovo faced a political and institutional crisis throughout 2025, which cost it a lack of international funds and delays in passing the budget for the new fiscal year.
Bajrami justified his candidacy as a presidential candidate based on "my many years of experience in all key phases of Kosovo's state-building since 1990, including institutional resistance, the building of constitutional order, and the decisive processes of political transition."
He added that his political, legal and institutional activity, as well as his experience in international negotiations for Kosovo's freedom in Rambouillet in 1999 and for its independence in the Vienna talks process, also make him a suitable candidate for president.
During his nearly 20-year career in politics, Bajrami served as Minister of Public Administration from 2008 to 2010, as Minister of Education from 2014 to 2017, as well as an MP in three different legislatures.
He is also a member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, that of Albania, as well as the European Academy of Sciences and Arts./ REL
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