PRISTINA (Kosovo), October 1 (SeeNews) – Kosovo’s early parliamentary election on Sunday will be the most uncertain general vote since the country proclaimed independence in 2008, the Ljubljana-based International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) said.
Late in August, Kosovo’s parliament dissolved after prime minister Ramush Haradinaj decided to resign as he was summoned to appear for questioning as suspect before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. The institution is investigating crimes committed during the 1990s guerrilla war waged by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians against Serbia's government forces.
The main race on Sunday will be between Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Albin Kurti's Self-Determination Movement (LVV) and Kadri Veseli's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), IFIMES said on Monday in an analysis of the current political situation in Kosovo in the light of the early parliamentary election.
Haradinaj with his Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) is trying to enter the race as the fourth competitor, the institute noted.
According to IFIMES, the public opinion polls carried out in Kosovo have shown that LVV’s Albin Kurti is convincingly the favourite prime minister candidate, followed by Vjosa Osmani (LDK), Kadri Veseli (PDK), Ramush Haradinaj (AAK) and Fatmir Limaj (Nisma).
The situation in the political scene and the citizens' orientation go in favour of the LVV, the think-tank noted, adding that Kurt’s party leads slightly before LDK, while PDK and AAK are competing for the third place.
According to IFIMES, the undecided voters share the opinion that the incumbent coalition government (PDK-AAK-AKR-Nisma) should be punished for their unprincipled coalition and their connections with crime, corruption, nepotism, intimidation, threats, war crimes, liquidations and extortions.
“Especially the young generation has recognised refreshment in the political scene through political parties that have not yet participated in the government of Kosovo, such as LVV and its leader Albin Kurti,” the institute noted.
Apart from the fight against crime and corruption, Kosovo’s main challenges are the dialogue with Belgrade, the process of international recognitions, halted in the past five years, as well as the secure visa-free regime for Kosovo citizens, according to the analysts.
“The European Union has lost control over the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue. It needs a new approach and a new idea on how to lead that dialogue, as well as a new mediator who would bring the dialogue into the final phase of signing the legally binding agreement,” they commented.
Kosovo, considered to be a potential candidate for EU membership by the European Commission, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has so far has been recognised by more than half of the 193 UN member states. Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo's independence.In mid-September, the European Union deployed a mission to observe the early parliamentary elections in response to an invitation by president Hashim Thaci.