Kosovo Center-Right Coalition Leading in Legislative Vote as 50% Ballots Counted

Kosovo’s center-right coalition is leading with 36 percent of votes in the early parliamentary election, the country’s Central Election Commission (CEC) said Monday as 58,96 percent of ballots were counted.

BELGRADE (Sputnik) – The center-right coalition brings together of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which is close to Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) of Ramush Haradinaj, the country’s prime minister candidate and former prime minister.

The CEC data also showed that opposition Self-Determination Movement (VV) got 24.97 percent of popular support and was followed by outgoing Prime Minister Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 23.44 percent of votes.

On Sunday, the citizens of breakaway Kosovo were casting ballots to express support to the preferred political bloc, out of the total of 26 parties and alliances. Kosovo parliament encompasses the total of 120 seats and 20 of them are reserved for the representatives of the ethnic minorities.

On May 10, the Kosovo Assembly voted to dismiss the government of Mustafa in a no-confidence motion, as the current government failed to implement political pledges. The initiative passed with 78 votes in favor, 34 against and three abstentions, paving the way for a snap election. Following the vote, Thaci dissolved the parliament and on May 11, set the date for the early vote.