Citizens of Kosovo will take to the polls on February 14 to vote in a high-stakes general election that will see voters take another shot at choosing its leaders after a polarized political era in 2020.
Like most countries, 2020 was a difficult year for Kosovo. With just 1.8 million people, the ongoing covid-19 global pandemic took over 1,500 lives and infected over 60,000 citizens in total. Despite this, a new election has been scheduled for February 14, 2020 with the Central Election Commission announcing 28 registered electoral lists and 1.79 million voters set to exercise their rights at 2,383 polling stations.
Reason Behind The New Snap Election
In 2020, only a few months after former Prime Minister Albin Kurti took office, the government’s coalition partner the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) initiated a vote of no confidence to oust him from power in response to his dismissal of the LDK Minister of Interior.
Following this, a new government, led by Avdullah Hoti of LDK assumed control, only to fall in December after Kosovo’s Constitutional Court struck down the validity of the government’s election on the basis of an invalid vote by a member of parliament who had been convicted of a crime in 2019. Furthermore, the Court also instructed the acting President to call early elections and barred candidates with a criminal conviction in the last three years from vying for office.
What Are The Polls Predicting?
According to the Institute for Public Opinion Research (PIPO), Kurti––under Vetëvendosje––seems to be leading the pre-election polls with the former Vice President garnering support just under 41 per cent. Meanwhile, the runner up is the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) with support of 22.3% of respondents, followed by the ruling LDK sits with 19.3%.
Kurti’s support seems to be on a decline despite his lead. This is a result of a recent CEC announcement to stop the former Prime Minister and two other party members, as they were earlier sentenced to jail for tear gas attacks in the parliament back in 2018. By law, people who have been sentenced for a crime in the last three years are banned from running in elections in Kosovo.
After the election, the parliament’s first challenge will be overcoming Kosovo’s internal divides to reach a consensus on a new President. In the absence of such an agreement, Kosovo risks another round of elections in the spring of 2021.
