Kosovo Prime Minister Hasim Taci has stated that the new Kosovo presidential candidate would be Deputy Director General of the Kosovo police Atifete Jahjaga.

At an extraordinary news conference late on Wednesday, Taci stated that a proposal had been made for Jahjaga to be presidential candidate and for a constitutional reform to be carried out in Kosovo in agreement with Democratic League of Kosovo leader Isa Mustafa, former Kosovo president Bedzet Pacoli and U.S. Ambassador Christopher Dell.

At a joint conference, Taci said that this agreement defused the crisis in Kosovo, caused by the election of president in a non-constitutional procedure on February 22, 2011.

A memorandum of agreement implies an urgent forming of a committee for the reform of the part of the Constitution referring to the election of president, so that the president is directly elected by the voters. The committee is to complete its work within six to nine months.

The presidential elections will be held within six to nine months after the constitutional change takes effect, Taci said.

The new memorandum will also imply the forming of a committee for amending the election law for new parliamentary and local elections in 2013.

Former Kosovo president Bedzet Pacoli stated Wednesday that he would not be running for the position of president, noting, however, that the ruling coalition would continue functioning, whereby early elections would be averted.

The Kosovo Constitutional Court declared the procedure of Pacoli's election as non-constitutional, after which he resigned from the post.