First Kurti Cabinet

Cabinet of Kosovo
3 February 2020 –3 June 2020
Date formed3 February 2020 (2020-02-03)
Date dissolved3 June 2020 (2020-06-03)
People and organisations
Head of stateHashim Thaçi
Head of governmentAlbin Kurti
Deputy head of governmentAvdullah Hoti
Member partiesLV LDK SL
Opposition partiesPDK AAK NISMA AKR
History
Election(s)2019
Legislature term(s)7th legislature of the Assembly
Outgoing formation25 March 2020
PredecessorSecond Cabinet of Ramush Haradinaj
SuccessorFirst Cabinet of Avdullah Hoti

The First Kurti cabinet was formed in Kosovo on 3 February 2020 following a deal between the political parties Vetëvendosje, New Democratic Party, Democratic League of Kosovo and Serb List. On 25 March 2020, the government lost a vote of no confidence that was brought by the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Actions

On 3 February 2020, Albin Kurti was confirmed as the prime minister of Kosovo by the Kosovo Assembly following the 2019 parliamentary elections with sixty six in favor and ten abstentions from the seventy six deputies who remained present after multiple opposition party deputies left the parliament in protest.[1]

On 12 February, the cabinet reversed decisions made by the former Haradinaj cabinet to increase ministerial salaries from €1,500 to €2,950 and continue to pay ministers' salaries after the end of their mandate. The Kurti cabinet also asked parliament to extend the budget until March.[2] On 27 February, Kurti announced a timetable for gradually removing a 100% import tariff on goods from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia, "as a sign of good will and readiness to resolve the economic dispute with Serbia" and to help with the integration of Kosovo into the European Union.[3] On 20 March, the cabinet voted ten to two in favor of removing the 100% import tariff on raw materials only. The decision was not supported by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) coalition party and drew criticism from senior United States personalities as they had called for all tariffs to be removed.[4][5]

On 18 March, Kurti sacked Interior Minister Agim Veliu (LDK) due to his support for declaring a state of emergency to handle the coronavirus pandemic, which would have given power to the Kosovo Security Council chaired by Hashim Thaçi (PDK). The Democratic League of Kosovo, the junior partner leader of the coalition, filed a no-confidence vote motion in retaliation for the sacking and due to other internal disagreements between the coalition members and on 25 March, eighty two members of the Kosovo Assembly voted in favor of the motion, becoming the first government to be voted out of power due to disagreements over how to handle the coronavirus pandemic.[5][6][7]

The First Kurti cabinet continued as a caretaker government.[8][9]

Composition

The cabinet consists of the following Ministers:[10]

PortfolioMinisterTook officeLeft officePartyRef
Prime Minister of Kosovo3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Deputy Prime Ministers3 February 202025 March 2020 LDK[11]
Haki Abazi
3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Communities and Returns3 February 20203 June 2020 Serb List
Minister of Defense
Anton Quni
3 February 20203 June 2020 LDK
Minister of Infrastructure and Environment
Lumir Abdixhiku
3 February 20203 June 2020 LDK
Minister of Finance and Transfers3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Health
Arben Vitia
3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports
Vlora Dumoshi
3 February 20203 June 2020 LDK
Minister of European Integration3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Justice3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Innovation3 February 20203 June 2020 LDK
Minister of Internal Affairs and Public Administration
Agim Veliu
3 February 202018 March 2020 LDK
18 March 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje[12]
Minister of Economy, Employment, Trade, Industry,
Entrepreneurship and Strategic Investments		3 February 20203 June 2020 Vetëvendosje
Minister of Administration and Local Government3 February 20203 June 2020 NDS
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development
Besian Mustafa
3 February 20203 June 2020 LDK
Minister of Rural Development
Ivan Milojević
3 February 20203 June 2020 Serb List

References

  1. ↑ "Kurti elected prime minister". 3 February 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  2. ↑ "New Kurti Cabinet Repeals Former Kosovo Government's Decisions". 12 February 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Kosovo govt to remove part of customs tariff with Serbia". 27 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Kosovo Government removes tariff on raw materials". 20 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  5. 1 2 "Kosovo's Crisis-Hit Govt Threatened with No-Confidence Vote". BalkanInsight. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  6. ↑ "Kosovo govt toppled by no-confidence vote amid coronavirus". 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 26 March 2020.
  7. ↑ "Virus Response Topples First European Government in Kosovo". 26 March 2020.
  8. ↑ "Kosovo government falls in vote of no confidence". The Guardian. 26 March 2020.
  9. ↑ "Coronavirus helps bring down Kosovo's government, with nudge from US". The Indian Express. The New York Times. 26 March 2020.
  10. ↑ "Kabineti Qeveritar" [Government Cabinet] (in Albanian). Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "Kosovo Parliament votes down government". Tirana Times. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Kosovo's PM Orders Coronavirus Lockdown, President Calls for Civil Disobedience, Opposition Denounces Unconstitutional Order". Exit News. 24 March 2020. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
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