Kosovo

The victory – as he demanded – of Albin Kurti


“People spoke”, said Albin Kurti last night when he appeared before the media, together with Vjosa Osmani, for the speech of triumph.

After more than 10 years of political activity within the electoral system and roughly 16 years of being formed as a Movement, the Self-Determination Movement has won more convincingly than anyone else in the post-war history of Kosovo.

With very few votes left to be counted, in the charts of the Central Election Commission, it is shown that SDM has won over 48 per cent of votes.

The vote of the diaspora, which traditionally goes to Self-Determination Movement, is expected to further enhance this victory of Kurti.

Throughout the election campaign, he urged people to go out and vote and said that February 14 is a “referendum” which decides between the future and the past for the citizens of Kosovo – with Kurti being the future.

When all the votes are counted, the figure reached by the Self-Determination Movement is expected to be around 400,000 votes – a number that has not been captured by anyone in Kosovo even when the political life was dominated by the former President Ibrahim Rugova.

The rise of the Self-Determination Movement has come with great reprisals for the two rival parties – the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

The most damaged is the DLK which, according to the results so far, wins only 13 per cent of the absolute vote.

This is the weakest result that DLK marks in an election process.

PDK is ranked second, which has run in these elections without the leader of the party, Kadri Veseli, and under the candidacy of Enver Hoxhaj, vice president of the party.

The result, however, is inverted for this party as well.

Founded by former warlords, the DPK has dropped to 17.3 per cent.

Albin Kurti, sometime near midnight, in a joint conference with Osmani reiterated that these elections were “the referendum for justice and against the capture of the state”.

He did not hesitate to add that “the road ahead is long”.

“We will have obstacles and we might make some mistakes, but we have a noble goal. We will not take revenge on anyone, but we will seek justice”, said Kurti.

Approximately the same was said by Osmani.

“This is not a mandate for revenge”, she assured the citizens, adding that “this government will be the voice of the citizens”.

On the other hand, the DLK has conceded defeat. It was Avdullah Hoti who said that he holds himself responsible.

“Before you, I want to say that I take full responsibility for the results and I will discuss with the party bodies”.

Hoxhaj also accepted the result, while he was quick in announcing that the DPK remains in opposition if it is the Self-Determination Movement that forms the government.

“DPK will not be part of the Government with Self-Determination Movement because our political orientations are far apart”, said Hoxhaj.

How and who will constitute the government belongs to the future. In addition to the executive, the president must also be voted on, and this complicates matters, as the president needs 80 votes or 61 in the third round, but there must be 80 MPs present in the hall.

The Kosovo Parliament has 120 seats and 20 are reserved for minority communities – 10 for Serbs and 10 for other communities.



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