Kosovo Leaders Squabble Over Right to Form Govt

Prime Minister Thaci has said that his governing Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, has a right to form the next government of Kosovo, as it won the most votes in the recent general election.

“The June 8 elections have been the best since the end of war and while votes are being counted, it is clear today as it was yesterday that the winning party and the pre-election coalition of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the New Mission is mandated to establish the new government,” Thaci wrote on Facebook on Wednesday.

His comment follows the formation of a new coalition of opposition parties that has also claimed the right to form a government.

The three parties are the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, Haradinaj's Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, and the Initiative for Kosovo [Nisma per Kosoven].

The announcement of the coalition on Tuesday caused shock in the Kosovo capital, where all eyes on forming a new government were on Thaci's ruling party.

The PDK most votes in Sunday's general election. It won 30 per cent of the vote and will hold around 36 seats in parliament.

The LDK, led by Isa Mustafa, came second with 25.75 per cent of the votes, taking 30 seats. Haradinaj’s AAK won 9.61 per cent of the votes, giving it 13 seats.

The new Initiative for Kosovo established by two PDK defectors, Fatmir Limaj and Jakup Krasniqi, won 5.24 per cent of the votes and is expected to have six or seven seats.

Haradinaj told the Klan Kosova TV on Tuesday that the coalition had every right to form a government, instead of the PDK.

“We are talking about an offer to govern the country by people who were elected ... so we, are talking about something legitimate and in line with the constitution,” he...