Political activist, MP, minister, and Speaker of Parliament—this is the 16-year journey of Albulena Haxhiu, who, as of April 4, has also assumed the duties of the president following the expiry of the term of the incumbent president, Vjosa Osmani. The 38-year-old Haxhiu will lead the state until the constitutional deadline for the MPs of the 10th legislature—until April 28—to elect the new president. Otherwise, the country must hold early elections within 45 days. According to the Constitution, the position of acting president "cannot be exercised for a period longer than six months." After accepting the duty on the afternoon of April 4 from the outgoing president, Haxhiu said she is aware of the constitutional responsibilities that come with this role, even if temporarily. "I understand the responsibility and constitutional obligations and pledge to act in accordance with the Constitution and the legislation in force," Haxhiu said upon accepting the duty. Albulena Haxhiu is part of the ruling party, the Self-Determination Movement (LVV), while she was elected Speaker of Parliament on February 11, the day the new government was formed. Her rise to this position has not been an easy process. She was proposed for speaker over 50 times after the parliamentary elections of February 9, 2025, but never secured the necessary votes. However, for several months, she served as deputy speaker until the announcement of early elections on December 28, 2025. Upon joining the Self-Determination Movement, Haxhiu was elected MP of the fourth legislature of the Kosovo Assembly in the period 2011–2014. She has been an MP seven consecutive times, while in the last four legislatures, she has been appointed to other positions: minister, deputy speaker of the Assembly, and speaker. As an MP, she chaired the Committee on Legislation, Mandates, Immunities, the Assembly's Rules of Procedure, and Oversight of the Anti-Corruption Agency for two terms. In 2020, Haxhiu was appointed Minister of Justice and was reappointed to that position in the subsequent government formed in 2021. In the parliamentary elections of February 9 and December 28, 2025, she was the most-voted woman—in the first electoral process, she won over 125,000 votes, and in the second, over 174,000 votes. From Street Protests to the Presidency While in opposition, Haxhiu was almost always seen at the forefront of Self-Determination Movement protests, for which she was arrested several times. In 2018, after a multi-year trial, Haxhiu was conditionally sentenced by the Basic Court in Prishtina for throwing tear gas and obstructing an official, actions she and other Self-Determination Movement MPs undertook to prevent the ratification of the Border Demarcation Agreement with Montenegro and the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities Agreement. She was also involved in tensions in July 2023 while serving as Minister of Justice. During a parliamentary session, Haxhiu physically clashed with the MP of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Mërgim Lushtaku, who threw water at Kosovo's Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, while he was speaking at the podium. Earlier in the year, the Basic Court in Prishtina rejected an indictment against Haxhiu and several other former MPs, who were accused of possessing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly in 2016, ending a lengthy judicial process. The acting president was born on May 11, 1987, in Prishtina. She completed her studies at the Faculty of Law of the University of Prishtina and at the University of Southeast Europe, specializing in criminal law. Haxhiu is married to the former LVV member in the Central Election Commission (CEC), Alban Krasniqi, and has three children.