Indirect presidential elections were held in Kosovo on 22 February 2011 and 7 April 2011.

Background As stipulated in the coalition agreement between the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR), the AKR's leader Behgjet Pacolli was to be elected president by the coalition's MPs. However, not all members of the PDK were in favour of this.

Election First vote It took three rounds of voting for Pacolli to be elected; he got 54, 58 and 62 votes respectively. Only 67 MPs were present, with the 53 opposition MPs boycotting the election.KosovaLive . KosovaLive (2011-02-14). Retrieved on 2011-04-17.Pacolli Is Kosovo's New President | Politics . Newkosovareport.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.

Resignation of Pacolli The election was declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court on 28 March 2011 with a vote of 7 to 2, as the necessary quorum had not been reached in the first two rounds.News – Kosovo president elected "unconstitutionally" . B92. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.Constitutional court rules recent Kosovo presidential poll illegal | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 28.03.2011. Dw-world.de. Retrieved on 2011-04-17. Pacolli resigned on 30 March 2011 and was again replaced as Acting President by Jakup Krasniqi, the Assembly's speaker.News – Pacolli resigns as Kosovo president . B92. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.

Second vote

In a second vote on April 7, the PDK, AKR, and the opposition Democratic League of Kosovo agreed on a compromise candidate: police commander Atifete Jahjaga. She was elected with 80 votes of the 100 MPs present.Hajdari, Ismet. (2011-04-07) AFP: Kosovo swears in top woman cop as president. Google.com. Retrieved on 2011-04-17.

It was also agreed that she would only serve on an interim basis, with a direct presidential election planned for 2012 after the necessary constitutional changes have passed. The Constitutional Court however, ruled against shortening the term of the sitting president. and Jahjaga sat for the full term of five years.

A decision was also made to hold early parliamentary elections in early 2013,Kosovo Elects New President To Resolve Political Impasse. Rttnews.com (2011-04-08). Retrieved on 2011-04-17. which was later held in 2014.

References