Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 14 February 2021. The results were a landslide victory for Vetëvendosje led by Albin Kurti and its coalition partner, Vjosa Osmani, former speaker of the parliament of Kosovo. The alliance won more than 50% of the total votes, the highest share since the first elections held in 2001, while their nearest rivals, the Democratic Party, finished in second place, trailing by more than 33%.

Background The October 2019 parliamentary elections saw opposition party Vetëvendosje emerge as the largest faction in parliament, finishing just ahead of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). The two parties formed a new government on 3 February 2020, with Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti as the Prime Minister. Kurti was elected Prime Minister with 66 votes and ten abstentions. The 34 opposition MPs boycotted the vote and left the Assembly building. The coalition soon collapsed as the LDK filed a no-confidence motion on 25 March 2020 due to disagreements over how to handle the coronavirus pandemic. The motion passed, with 82 members of the Assembly voting in favor, the first time a Kosovan government had fallen in such a manner. The Kurti cabinet continued in office as a caretaker government, while the LDK leader Avdullah Hoti attempted to form a government. Although Hoti's eligibility to be Prime Minister had been questioned by Kurti and Vetëvendosje, who claimed that a government could not be formed without the party that won the most seats in the previous elections, on 28 May the Constitutional Court confirmed the LDK had the right to form a government without fresh elections. The Court ruled that after the party that won the elections failed again to form a new government, another party was able to, and Hoti could be approved as Prime Minister in a parliamentary vote.

On 3 June Hoti was elected Prime Minister by a vote of 61–24, with one abstention. However, on 21 December the Constitutional Court ruled that the vote of Etem Arifi of the minority Ashkali Party for Integration in favour of Hoti was invalid (as Arifi had been convicted of fraud) and consequently the government had not received the support of the majority of the Assembly.Kosovo's highest court rules parliamentary vote electing government was illegal Reuters, 21 December 2020 As a result, fresh elections were called, with the Hoti government continuing as a caretaker government.

Electoral system The 120 members of the Assembly of Kosovo are elected by open list proportional representation, with 20 seats reserved for national minorities.Kosovo IFES/electionguide.org An electoral threshold of 5% is in place for non-minority parties. Seats are allocated using the Webster/Sainte-Laguë method.Law No. 03/L-073 on General Elections in the Republic of Kosovo, Article 111.2 To form a government, a party or coalition must have a majority of 61 MPs out of 120 seats in the Assembly of Kosovo.

Parties and coalitions

The Election Commission published the official list of the 28 participating parties and coalitions.

Party or coalitionCandidate for Prime MinisterSocial Democratic Initiative (NISMA)Fatmir LimajVetëvendosje (VV)Guxo and The Alternative (Candidates run inside VV list)Albin KurtiDemocratic League of Kosovo (LDK)New Kosovo Alliance (Candidates run inside LDK list)Avdullah HotiDemocratic Party of Kosovo (PDK)Enver HoxhajAlliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK)Ramush HaradinajFjala Gëzim KelmendiBallist Party (PB)Serbian parties (10 seats reserved)Civic Initiatives for Freedom, Justice and Survival (GI SPO) Serbian Democratic Alliance (SDS) Serb ListOther minority parties (10 seats reserved)Romani, Ashkali and Egyptians4 seats reservedNew Democratic Initiative of Kosovo (IRDK)Movement for Integration (LpB)United Roma Party of Kosovo (PREBK)Progressive Movement of Kosovar Roma (LPRK)Romani Initiative (RI)Kosovar New Romani Party (KNRP)Democratic Ashkali Party of Kosovo (PDAK)Ashkali Party for Integration (PAI)Egyptian Liberal Party (PLE)Bosniaks3 seats reservedVakat CoalitionSocial Democratic Union (SDU)United Community (UZ)New Democratic Party (NDS)Our Initiative (NAŠA)Turks2 seats reservedTurkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (KDTP)Innovative Turkish Movement Party (YTHP)Gorans1 seat reservedCoalition Together Civic Initiative of Gora (GIG) Movement for Gora (PG)Unique Gorani Party (JGP)

Opinion polls

Pollster DateLVVLDKPDKAAKSLNISMAOtherAbstentionLeadUBO Consulting14 February 202147.914.617.76.62.7 –30.2Albanian Post14 February 202153172072 –33KOHA14 February 202150.715.115.46.85.82.93.335.3PIPOS14 February 202141.815.216.57.22.6–25.3PIPOS12 February 202140.9519.3522.37.83.151.45.018.65Albanian Post2 February 202151.315.513.25.51.8––35.8KOZMO26–30 January 202153.616.017.47.23.6–3.237.6PIPOS29 January 202143.817.221.17.02.91.07.222.7PIPOS22 January 202144.217.420.47.23.10.67.223.8T7 & GE22 January 202150.816.016.97.03.0––33.9Riinvest Analytics11–17 January 202154.110.314.96.45.01.44.43.539.2PIPOS15 January 202141.616.320.17.51.54.75.221.5PIPOS7 January 202141.415.720.88.62.05.36.520.6UBO Consulting23 December 202046.214.916.07.02.53.51.01.930.22019 election6 October 201926.224.521.211.56.45.05.0– 1.7

Results

Vetëvendosje won the most votes that any party has won in any Kosovan election since independence. The previous vote share record was held by Ibrahim Rugova's victory in 2001 with 359,851 votes. The 2021 election saw a record number of non-resident citizens who participated in the election via postal voting. In comparison to 35,087 in the 2019 election, 102,100 non-resident citizens gained the right to vote via postal voting in the 2021 election. The counting of the locally cast ballots was completed within a week, while the diaspora vote count was finished on by 3 March.

In the initial results, two newly created minorities parties that had been backed by the Serb List (Romani Initiative and United Community) won two seats and one seat, respectively. However, the parties faced accusations of strategic voting organised by the Serb List in order gain control of seats outside the ten reserved for Serbs. More than 200 complaints to the Election Panel triggered an investigation that discovered many irregularities, including a suspicious 49% increase in the Bosnian minority vote compared to the 2019 elections, with a large share of those votes having been cast in Serb-dominated areas rather than in their own communities.. This led the panel to remove hundreds of votes cast, which caused the loss of one of the two seats won by the Romani Initiative and the single seat won by United Community, a decision confirmed by the Supreme Court. The final result was certified by the Central Election Commission (KQZ) on 13 March.

Results by municipalities Results by Municipality Municipality LVV PDK LDK AAK SL Others Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Votes % Deçan 4,798 29.65 765 4.72 2,354 14.557,95649.17 1 0.01 304 1.90 Gjakova 24,087 55.26 3,127 7.17 3,688 8.46 10,295 23.62 2 0.01 2,392 5.49 Drenas 5,884 25.43 14,568 62.96 703 3.04 734 3.17 3 0.01 1,248 5.39 Gjilan 32,742 65.21 5,868 11.69 7,611 15.16 1,417 2.82 596 1.19 1,973 3.93 Dragash 3,470 27.80 2,802 22.45 2,357 18.88 267 2.14 21 0.17 3,564 28.56 Istog 8,894 45.54 1,881 9.63 4,893 25.06 2,226 11.40 259 1.33 1,375 7.04 Kaçanik 9,854 59.54 4,647 28.08 1,087 6.57 423 2.56 1 0.01 538 3.24 Klina 5,566 32.46 3,754 21.90 2,901 16.92 3,809 22.22 213 1.24 902 5.26 Kosovo Polje 11,371 56.59 2,668 13.38 3,179 15.82 463 2.30 237 1.18 2,155 10.73 Kamenica 9,828 58.07 2,272 13.42 2,210 13.06 1,125 6.65 718 4.24 771 4.56 Mitrovica 22,580 64.27 8,500 24.19 2,152 6.12 533 1.52 9 0.03 1,361 3.87 Leposavić 129 1.43 65 0.72 7 0.08 7 0.08 8,129 89.96 699 7.73 Lipjan 14,638 48.95 6,088 20.36 6,059 20.26 685 2.30 268 0.90 2,163 7.23 Novo Brdo 1,040 25.27 282 6.85 462 11.23 104 2.53 2,104 51.13 123 2.99 Obiliq 6,692 53.45 1,290 10.30 1,184 9.46 1,814 14.49 938 7.49 601 4.81 Rahovec 11,743 49.34 3,613 15.18 3,087 12.97 4,398 18.48 303 1.27 656 2.76 Peja 23,822 50.52 4,303 9.12 8,643 18.33 6,807 14.43 438 0.93 3,143 6.67 Podujevë 25,899 60.95 4,717 11.10 9,819 23.11 892 2.10 1 0.01 1,164 2.74 Pristina 71,873 65.13 12,964 11.75 17,961 16.28 3,870 3.50 276 0.25 3,406 3.09 Prizren 33,268 47.52 11,428 16.32 6,672 9.53 2,182 3.12 25 0.04 16,459 23.47 Skenderaj 4,132 20.03 14,634 70.94 576 2.79 353 1.71 142 0.69 791 3.84 Shtime 6,932 51.20 4,051 29.92 1,373 10.14 276 2.04 0 0.00 906 6.70 Štrpce 906 15.05 450 7.16 265 4.21 37 0.59 4,031 64.12 558 8.87 Suva Reka 11,843 41.14 4,787 16.63 5,249 18.23 5,366 18.64 1 0.01 1,539 5.35 Ferizaj 35,158 61.95 11,872 20.92 5,103 8.99 1,714 3.02 4 0.01 2,892 5.11 Viti 12,939 59.75 3,099 14.31 4,305 19.88 690 3.19 60 0.28 561 2.59 Vushtrri 21,637 61.50 6,868 19.44 3,463 9.84 907 2.58 985 2.80 1,352 3.84 Zubin Potok 243 5.11 98 2.06 98 2.06 12 0.26 4,288 90.25 12 0.26 Zvečan 116 2.20 51 0.97 38 0.72 6 0.11 4,705 89.14 362 6.86 Malisheva 7,618 33.48 4,549 19.99 2,254 9.91 1,306 5.74 0 0.00 7,026 30.88 Junik 684 32.05 151 7.08 316 14.8192243.20 0 0.00 61 2.86 Mamusha 215 10.14 103 4.86 16 0.75 56 2.64 0 0.001,73181.60 Hani i Elezit 2,118 54.20 986 25.23 247 6.32 282 7.22 0 0.00 275 7.03 Gračanica 451 5.96 184 2.43 152 2.01 29 0.38 4,347 57.48 2,375 31.74 Ranilug 19 0.96 4 0.20 18 0.91 2 0.10 1,827 92.79 97 5.04 Parteš 5 0.28 0 0.00 1 0.05 0 0.00 1,706 94.15 100 5.52 Klokot 391 28.40 80 5.81 98 7.11 25 1.82 685 49.75 98 7.11 North Mitrovica 908 8.89 337 3.29 92 0.90 54 0.53 7,084 69.27 1,818 17.12 Embassy & Consulate Votes 3,802 80.48 389 8.23 292 6.18 67 1.42 0 0.00 174 3.69 Total 438,335 50.28 148,285 17.01 110,985 12.73 62,111 7.12 44,407 5.09 67,725 7.77 Source: CEC

Reactions

Albin Kurti, leader of the winning party, Vetëvendosje, called the results a vindication of his campaign claim that the election was a "referendum" on what he called a "seizure of the state" during the no-confidence vote held in 2020. All parties which are likely to stand in the opposition were part of the LDK-led governing coalition. They all accepted the results and congratulated Vetëvendosje.

Albanian prime minister Edi Rama and main opposition leader Lulzim Basha both congratulated Kurti. Ali Ahmeti, leader of DUI, the main ethnic Albanian party in North Macedonia, congratulated Vetëvendosje and pledged that his party would be a "brother, ally and supporter... as well as partner and cooperator". Shaip Kamberi, an ethnic Albanian MP in the parliament of Serbia, hailed the electoral process and the election results, which according to Kamberi showed "both democratic capacities and functional institutions".

In light of the disappointing results for LDK, party leader Isa Mustafa announced that he would resign.

On 4 April Vjosa Osmani was elected as the second female president of Kosovo by the Assembly.

Notes

References