Kosovo in political stalemate as parliament fails to elect speaker

By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's parliament failed to elect a new speaker for the fourth time on Friday, prolonging a legislative crisis that has prevented efforts to form a new government more than two months after an inconclusive election.

Under Kosovo's constitution, a parliamentary speaker must be voted in before the election winner can form a government, but without cross-party support that is proving difficult, and the stalemate has exposed deep divisions in Europe's newest state.

In the February 9 parliamentary election, following an acrimonious campaign in which outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti called the opposition "animals" and "thieves", his Vetevendosje party came first but did not secure an outright majority.

Opposition parties, who have said they will not enter a coalition with Vetevendosje, partly blame Kurti for escalating the tensions in the country's Serb-majority north that have hobbled Kosovo's chances of joining the EU and triggered sanctions from the bloc.

The fractured political scene could result in a snap election later this year if no government can be formed.

Kurti's nominee for speaker, outgoing justice minister Albulena Haxhiu, received 57 votes on Friday, unchanged from previous votes and short of a required majority of 61 seats. Parliament must meet again in 48 hours to hold another vote. Opposition parties have asked Kurti to change the candidate if he wants their support. 

"There is no will from political parties to constitute the parliament," Haxhiu said after the vote.

By law, parliament must continue to meet until a speaker is voted in. After that the country's president will give Kurti's party a mandate to form a new ruling coalition.

If Kurti fails, the mandate will be handed to the second-placed Democratic Party of Kosovo and, if they do not succeed, the third-placed Democratic League of Kosovo party. If all efforts fail, the president can call snap elections - an outcome many analysts expect.

(Reporting by Fatos Bytyci; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Edward McAllister and Hugh Lawson)