Kosovo opposition headed for landslide election victory
- An early count, shows the left-wing Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje, holding a clear lead over its opponents
- Voters braved freezing temperatures to cast their ballots amid the Covid-19 pandemic, an economic downturn and stalled negotiations with wartime foe Serbia
Kosovo’s main opposition party appeared headed to a landslide victory in Sunday’s early election of a new parliament held amid the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downturn and stalled negotiations with wartime foe Serbia.
With 65 per cent of the votes counted by the central Election Commission, the main governing election body, the left-wing Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje, had 48 per cent of the votes. It led two centre-right parties – the Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, which had 18 per cent, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, with 14 per cent.
Hundreds of Vetevendosje supporters defied calls from the party leadership “to celebrate at home, with the family” and gathered at the Mother Teresa Square in Pristina chanting, dancing and launching firecrackers while vehicles blowing horns drove around the centre.
“We are here to celebrate the liberation of our government and our people,” said Ali Shilova, a Vetevendosje supporter. “We are the people of this country who will take over and make it for everybody, not just for people who are in power.”
Acting Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti of the LDK had yet to concede defeat.
