Bekim Sejdiu Withdraws from Presidential Candidacy: “Insufficient Parliamentary Support”

Bekim Sejdiu has announced he has withdrawn his candidacy for president of the Republic of Kosovo, saying the decision comes as a result of the lack of necessary parliamentary support and political clashes surrounding the process.

In a reaction published on Monday, Sejdiu said that two weeks ago he was contacted by representatives of the Democratic League of Kosovo and invited to a meeting with the delegations of the LDK and the Vetëvendosje Movement.

According to him, at that meeting he was informed that, after a long process of talks, the two parties had reached an agreement that he would be proposed as a non-partisan candidate for president.

Sejdiu said he had accepted the candidacy given the institutional crisis and the need to unblock the political situation.

“Fully aware of the difficult period our country is going through and the risk of the institutional crisis deepening, I agreed to be a candidate for President of the Republic of Kosovo,” he wrote.

However, according to Sejdiu, the process failed to secure the necessary support in the Assembly.

“In the circumstances created, characterized by the lack of the necessary parliamentary support for my election as President and by the deviation of the entire process into the whirlpool of internal political dynamics and clashes, I have decided to withdraw from the candidacy for President of the Republic of Kosovo,” he declared.

Sejdiu said he had informed the LDK and LVV representatives of his decision in advance.

He also thanked those who supported his candidacy, mentioning colleagues, friends, public figures, civil society representatives and especially the Albanian diaspora in the United States of America.

Sejdiu emphasized he had no ambitions for public office beyond his academic and professional engagements, saying the motive for accepting the candidacy was only the effort to help unblock the institutional deadlock.

He called on political parties to find a solution to the institutional crisis and avoid deepening polarization.

“The Republic of Kosovo and its citizens do not need political drama and deeper polarization, but maturity and unity in the function of strengthening our state,” Sejdiu wrote.

In the end, he expressed hope that political parties will find a way out of the institutional crisis, emphasizing that Kosovo is “our common home” and that service to it must be above individual and party interests.