Parliamentary elections were held in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Eur ...

on 6 October 2019. The main opposition parties received the most votes, led by

Vetëvendosje Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (, en, Self-determination Movement; LVV) is a centre-left to left-wing political party in Kosovo. It is orientated towards principles of social democracy, populism, and Albanian nationalism. Vetëvendosje was founded in ...

and the

Democratic League of Kosovo The Democratic League of Kosovo ( sq, Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës, LDK) is the oldest and one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. At the legislative elections held on 24 October 2004 the party won 45.4% of the popular vote and 47 out ...

(LDK). Vetëvendosje leader

Albin Kurti Albin Kurti (; born 24 March 1975) is a Kosovar Albanian politician and activist, serving as the Prime Minister of Kosovo since 22 March 2021, having previously served in that role between February and June 2020. He came to prominence in 1997 ...

became Prime Minister, forming a governing coalition with the LDK on an anti-corruption platform. He is the second Prime Minister not to have been a fighter of the

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia ...

during the 1990s.

Background

On 19 July 2019 Prime Minister

Ramush Haradinaj Ramush Haradinaj (; born 3 July 1968) is a Kosovo Albanian politician, leader of the AAK party, and the third prime minister of Kosovo. He is a former officer and leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and previously served as Prime Minist ...

resigned after being summoned for questioning by the KSC in

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's ad ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

requires the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

to designate a new candidate to either form a government, or hold new elections in between 30 and 45 days after consultation with political parties or coalitions who hold a majority in the Assembly. On 2 August 2019, President

Hashim Thaçi Hashim Thaçi (; born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who was the president of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first prime minister of Kosovo and the ...

asked the PANA Coalition to propose a new candidate to form a coalition government. However, other political parties opposed the move.Zyrtare: Thaçi i kërkon koalicionit PAN propozim-mandatarin e ri për kryeministër
Bota Sot, 2 August 2019 On 5 August 2019, the

Assembly of Kosovo The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Kosovës; sr, Скупштина Републике Косово, Skupština Republike Kosovo) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly electe ...

agreed to hold an extraordinary session on 22 August, planning to disband itself so that elections could be scheduled. Subsequently, on 22 August 2019, MPs voted to dissolve parliament, with 89 of the 120 voting in favour, necessitating elections within 30–45 days.

Electoral system

The 120 members of the

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

are elected by

open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, p ...

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

, with 20 seats reserved for national minorities. An electoral threshold of 5% was in place for non-minority parties.

Parties and coalitions

On 7 September the Election Commission published the official list of the 25 participating parties and coalitions.

Opinion polls

Coalitions Parties

Results

The initial results showed that the pro-government NISMA– AKR– PD alliance fell only a few hundred votes short of meeting the 5% electoral threshold and lost all 10 of their seats. However, the Kosovo Election Complaints and Appeals Panel subsequently ordered around 3,782 votes originating in Serbia to be removed from the vote count as they had been delivered by Serbian officials rather than by post. The removed votes allowed the NISMA-led alliance to cross the threshold and win six seats, a reduction of four from the prior election.

and the Independent Liberal Party (which lost its parliamentary representation) were the only other parties to see a reduction in their seat totals. The

Democratic Party of Kosovo The Democratic Party of Kosovo ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; abbr. ''PDK'') is one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. It was originally a social-democratic party coming out of the demilitarised Kosovo Liberation Army after the ...

AAK ''Aak'' is a genre of Korean court music. It is an imported form of the Chinese court music ''yayue'', and means "elegant music". ''Aak'' was performed almost exclusively in state sacrificial rites, and in the present day it is performed in ce ...

– PSD alliance and the Serb List all gained seats. Voter turnout was around 45%.

Aftermath

After the election, Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti formed a coalition with the LDK. However, the government collapsed on 25 March following a

motion of no confidence A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...

. Following the vote, the LDK formed a new government with the

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, the Social Democratic Initiative and the Serb List. However, due to the Constitutional Court's ruling and a deputy's conviction, the government collapsed again and another election will be held within 40 days starting from 22 December.

References

{{Authority control

Parliamentary election Elections in Kosovo Kosovan parliamentary election