Kosovan parliamentary election

Lumir Abdixhiku has been elected the new chairperson of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, exactly one month after Kosovo's oldest party was humbled disastrously in parliamentary elections, promising to restore the party "to its original place".

Around 50 supporters of Kosovo Bosniak political party Nasa Inicijativa protested in Pristina on Tuesday, claiming that the parliamentary elections on February 14 were "an undemocratic electoral process and compromised by manipulations".

Traditional representatives of Bosniaks and the Roma in Kosovo insist the main Kosovo Serb party manipulated their communities' vote in the recent election - and are preparing a legal challenge.

Our communities have always been kept in degrading conditions and excluded from society, partly in order to make sure that poor non-Roma did not rebel against their lot in life. Even now, in many villages the 'best' Roma is the guy who still works for the locals, morning to evening, for whatever they will give him - "the best Roma in the village".

Some political representatives of the Roma and Bosniak communities in Kosovo as well as civil society organisations have claimed that the seats their representatives obtained in Kosovo's parliament in the February elections were essentially arranged by the Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party, Srpska Lista.

Political leaders in Kosovo have accepted the landslide victory of the Vetevendosje Movement in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections, with some saying they took responsibility for their own parties' poor showing.

The opposition Vetevendosje party was on course for a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections in Kosovo on Sunday, on a day that its leader and prime ministerial candidate, Albin Kurti, described as a "bright day" when he cast his ballot at a Pristina polling centre in the morning.

Voters in Kosovo will cast their ballots today in snap parliamentary elections - the sixth such poll in 14 years -  which analysts have predicted will be a much tighter race than usual.

Key Information: 

The debate raged for nearly seven hours, but eventually Kosovo's divided Central Election Commission, CEC, took a decision on January 22 that threatens the prospects of the popular Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] party in a Valentine's Day snap election.

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has repeatedly stated that consultations will be held with the country's political parties to discuss choosing the next president after Hashim Thaci's resignation, but his office told BIRN that the government has not yet set a date for talks.