PRISTINA (KOSOVA) – Kosovars began voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election, in which an anti-establishment party is expected to win. However, this would further complicate Western efforts to find solutions to a decades-long territorial dispute with Serbia.
According to opinion polls, the Vetevendosje party will win 45% to 55% of the vote among ethnic Albanians, who make up 90% of the 1.9 million population.
Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti, who served as prime minister for five months last year, has won support over vows to fight widespread corruption. He has had a firm stance that there should be no compromise in a dialogue with Serbia, whose control over Kosovo was lost in 1999 after NATO bombed its forces.
If Vetevendosje fails to secure a majority of 61 seats, it may have to join forces with either the now-ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), or the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) or Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).
Serbia, backed by Russia, does not identify Kosovo’s independence, citing the need to uphold the rights of its Serb minority. Negotiators from the European Union and the United States have not been able to come to an agreement that would allow Kosovo to join international organisations such as the United Nations and NATO.
Skender Habibaj, a pensioner in Pristina, said he was hopeful that the election would instill a change of the political elite.
“I think people should not vote for those (politicians) who were in the parliament before but only for the new ones,” said Habibaj, who was out in bitterly cold weather and among the first to vote at a polling station in the city centre.
Almost 2,400 polling stations opened at 7 am. (0600 GMT) and will be closed at 7 pm. (1800 GMT). The first official results are expected a few hours later.
Luljeta Emini after she cast a ballot at a polling station in Pristina, said, “People want jobs, we want to get rid off of corruption.”