Kosovo PM's Party Set For Victory But Not Majority

Pristina, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th Feb, 2025) Prime Minister Albin Kurti's governing party was on track to secure the most seats in Kosovo's parliament after Sunday's election, but would lack the numbers for a majority, the election commission said Monday.

The contest largely pitted Kurti's campaign to stamp out Serbian influence in the Balkan nation against the opposition's vow to boost the economy in one of the poorest corners of Europe.

If no party wins a clear majority in the 120-seat parliament, Kosovo will probably face days if not weeks of coalition talks and political horse-trading to form a government.

Twenty seats in the legislature are reserved for minority parties, including 10 for Kosovo's ethnic Serbs who are vastly outnumbered by ethnic Albanians.

Kurti's Vetevendosje ("Self-Determination") party (VV) was on course to win roughly 41 percent of the vote, according to election commission data, down from around 50 percent in 2021.

The right-wing Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) trailed in second with 22 percent of the votes, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 17 percent.

Long-time rivals PDK and LDK have partnered to form coalition governments on multiple occasions since the independence war from Serbia in the late 1990s.

During the run-up to Sunday's vote, Kurti hinted that he would prefer to sit in opposition if his party was unable to form a majority government.

But as the votes were counted, Kurti said his party would try to form a government.

"Congratulations on our victory," he told supporters.

The initial tally had been muddled on Sunday with Kosovo's election commission saying the software designed to help count the vote had malfunctioned, which delayed the release of the results.

The issue appeared to have been resolved, with the official website publishing the election results back up and running on Monday morning.

Election officials said turnout for the vote was around 40 percent.