Parliamentary Election in Kosovo: Will the Victor also Become Prime Minister?
Clear Election Victory for Albin Kurti’s Vetëvendosje Movement
According to the latest figures, Albin Kurti's Vetëvendosje almost secured an absolute majority with 48.95 per cent of the vote. Less than two years after the last general election in 2019, Kosovans were called to the ballot box once again on 14 February 2021. A decision by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo on 21 December 2020 set the scene for this early vote. It declared the parliament’s election of the incumbent Prime Minister, Avdullah Hoti, on 3 June 2020, to be unlawful, since a parliamentarian whose previous conviction should have barred him from entering parliament cast the decisive vote for an absolute majority (61 out of 120). This election is also particularly important because the resignation of President Hashim Thaçi on 5 November 2020, due to an indictment before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers for War Crimes in the Hague, warrants the election of a new president within a period of six months for which a two-thirds majority is needed. Whether a potential one-party government under Vetëvendosje can also elect a president remains to be seen.