Parliamentary election in Kosovo 2010/2011

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Share of voters in percent
 %
40
30th
20th
10
0
32.1
24.7
12.7
11.0
7.3
2.1
n. k.
2.2
7.9
FER
Otherwise.
Gains and losses
compared to 2007
 % p
 14th
 12
 10
   8th
   6th
   4th
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
-2.2
+2.1
+12.7
+1.4
-5.0
-7.9
-4.1
+2.2
+0.8
FER
Otherwise.
14th
12
27
34
8th
8th
17th
14th 12 27 34 8th 8th 17th 
A total of 120 seats
  • VV : 14
  • AAK : 12
  • LDK : 27
  • PDK : 34
  • AKR : 8
  • ULP : 8
  • Otherwise: 17

The first parliamentary election in Kosovo after independence in 2008 began on December 12, 2010 and ended - after various re-elections - on January 16, 2011. On January 30, 2011 , the results were published by the Central Election Commission ( Albanian  Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve ). Winner was the Democratic Party of Hashim Thaci with 34 percent of the vote.

On November 2, 2010, parliamentary president Jakup Krasniqi dissolved the Kosovar parliament on the basis of a destructive vote of no confidence . In the newly scheduled elections, 100 seats in the Kosovar parliament were freely elected. As before, a further twenty seats were guaranteed by the constitution to the minorities living in Kosovo , ten of them for the Serbian population.

background

After the conviction of the then President of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu at the end of September 2010 by the Kosovar constitutional court , the latter announced his resignation. Sejdiu was convicted of having been active both as President of Kosovo and as chairman of his party . The LDK then withdrew from the government alliance with the PDK , and Hashim Thaçi's government was dissolved by a destructive vote of no confidence. The elections originally planned for February 2011 were therefore brought forward to December 12, 2010.

Starting position

Out of 120 seats in the Kosovar parliament, 20 seats are secured for the minorities even before the election through so-called “positive discrimination”. That means 10 seats will be secured for the Serbian minority in Kosovo, and another 10 seats for the other minorities. About 1.6 million people are entitled to vote.

Participating parties

The election commission ( Albanian  Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve ) registered and approved a total of 29 parties for the election :

Election campaign

  • Hashim Thaçi promised a wage increase for teachers and a relaxation of the EU visa regulations .
  • The civil rights movement Lëvizja Vetëvendosje! was the only party to advocate full unification with Albania, but if the Kosovar people so wish ( referendum ) Vetëvendosje also calls for the inclusion of northern Kosovo around the town of Kosovska Mitrovica , an abolition of the Ahtisaari constitution in the sense of an independent state, and enforced by police forces a withdrawal of all foreign troops. In addition, their party leader Albin Kurti promises a fight against corruption and for wage increases.
  • Corruption was an important campaign issue . An indictment by the public prosecutor's office is being prepared against the transport minister and deputy party leader Fatmir Limaj (PDK) and another party official is charged with murder orders.
  • Behgjet Pacolli , millionaire and party leader of the AKR , promised his voters that Kosovo would join the UN by September 2011.

First election results

On December 13th, the electoral commission in Pristina reported that Hashim Thaçi and his PDK had won 36 percent of the votes and thus clearly won the election. The LDK came to 24 percent , followed by the former student movement Vetëvendosje! (12 percent), the AAK (11 percent) and AKR (seven percent). The other parties did not manage to cross the five percent hurdle .

About 48 percent of the 1.6 million voters took part. International observers spoke of a fair election. The EU congratulated Kosovo on a “calm and orderly” parliamentary election. The higher participation of the Serb minority in the election can be seen as a success. Although the elections were generally described as fair, some parties described the elections in the Drenica region, traditionally a stronghold of the PDK of Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, as manipulated and falsified.

Redials

The election fraud accused of the PDK was officially confirmed by the electoral commission on December 16, 2011, so that on January 9, 2011 in all polling stations in Drenas (municipalities in the Drenica Valley , Skënderaj and Deçan , as well as in one municipality each in Lipjan and Malisheva ) new ones Elections were held. According to the British newspaper The Guardian, the turnout at a polling station is said to have been an unrealistic 149%.

On January 7, 2011, the electoral commission announced that the election would have to be repeated in 24 of the 29 constituencies in Mitrovica . Large-scale forgeries were also given here as the reason. The reruns took place there on January 16th.

Bottom line

The clear winner of the election was the PDK with almost a third of the votes. Isa Mustafa's LDK follows with just under a quarter. The high number of votes for the Vetëvendosje was surprising! by Albin Kurti, his party reached over 12 percent despite having voted for the first time. The big loser was the LDD; it lost all of its previous ten seats.

Result of the 2010 elections to the Parliament of Kosovo
Political party Absolute votes Percentage Votes (%) Won seats Seats +/-
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) 224,339 32.11 34 −3
Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) 172,552 24.69 27 +2
Self-determination! (VV) 88,652 12.69 14th +/-
Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) 77,130 11.04 12 +2
Coalition for a New Kosovo (AKR) * 50,951 7.29 8th +/-
New spirit 15,156 2.17 0 +/-
Democratic League of Dardania 14,924 2.14 0 −10
Independent Liberal Party (ULP , Serb.) 14,352 2.05 8th +/-
Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (Turkish) 8,548 1.22 3 +/-
United Serbian List (Serbian) 6.004 0.86 4th +/-
Coalition Vakat ( Bosn .) 5,296 0.76 2 +/-
Democratic Party of the Ashkali of Kosovo (Ashk.) 2,871 0.41 1 +/-
New Democratic Party (Bosniak.) 2,478 0.35 1 +/-
Bosniak Party for Democratic Action of Kosovo (Bosn.) 1,818 0.26 1 +/-
New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo (kosovo-egypt.) 1,690 0.24 1 +/-
Ashkali Party for Integration (Ashk.) 1,386 0.2 1 +/-
Serbian Democratic Party for Kosovo and Metohija (Serb.) 1.008 0.14 1 +/-
Citizens' Initiative Gora (goran.) 787 0.11 1 +/-
United Roma Party of Kosovo (rome) 690 0.1 1 +/-
Others 38.199 1.17 0 +/-
Total (turnout: 47.5%) 646.623 100.0 120 ± 0

* Consists of Alliance New Kosovo, Justice Party, Social Democratic Party, Party of Invalid Pensioners, Party of Pensioners of Kosovo, Albanian National Democratic Party and Party of Kosovo Greens

Government formation

Behgjet Pacolli , President elected by Parliament (1998 photo)

The PDK needed at least two or three partners to form a government . As a possible coalition member , she vehemently closed the Vetëvendosje! out. The former coalition partner LDK, for her part, ruled out an alliance with Thaçi's party. Accordingly, the AAK, AKR and the minority parties were seen as future government partners. However, the AAK already denied such plans in December.

At the end of January coalition attempts became real for the first time. Together with the AAK of the former rebel leader Ramush Haradinaj , who was accused by the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague , and the AKR of the controversial entrepreneur Behgjet Pacolli, as well as representatives of the minorities, Thaçi came up with a clear majority. However, the AAK later ruled out a coalition with the PDK.

At the end of February, Thaçis PDK agreed on a government coalition with the AKR of Behgjet Pacolli, the Democratic League Ibrahim Rugova of Ukë Rugova , the Independent Liberal Party of Slobodan Petrović and the minority coalition 6plus . Thus Hashim Thaçi remains Prime Minister, while Pacolli should become the new President. The millionaire is not without controversy - even within the PDK. Investigations into corruption and money laundering were carried out against the 59-year-old entrepreneur in Switzerland and Russia. At the third attempt, he was finally elected on February 22, 2011 with 61 out of 120 possible votes in parliament. The AAK from Haradinaj and Vetëvendosje did not take part in the election! by Albin Kurti .

On February 22nd, the new government was elected by the Kosovar parliament with a majority. Hashim Thaçi should remain prime minister; Hajredin Kuçi (PDK), Mimoza Kusari-Lila (AKR), Slobodan Petrović (SLS), Edita Tahiri (PDK) and Bujar Bukoshi (LDK) are to take over his deputy. The departmental distribution was as follows: Enver Hoxhaj (PDK) in the Foreign Ministry, Vlora Çitaku (PDK) in the Ministry of Integration, Agim Çeku (AAK) as Minister of Defense, Hajredin Kuçi as Minister of Justice, Bajram Rexhepi (PDK) as Minister of the Interior, Bedri Hamza (PDK ) in the Finance Department, Memli Krasniqi (PDK) in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Besim Beqaj (PDK) in the Ministry of Economic Development, Ramë Buja (PDK) as Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Dardan Gashi (PDK) in the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, Fehmi Mujota (PDK) in the Ministry of Infrastructure, Mahir Yağcılar (KDTP) in the Department of Public Administration, Mimoza Kusari-Lila as Minister of Commerce and Industry, Ferid Agani (PD) as Minister of Health, Nenad Rašić (SLS) in the Ministry for social welfare, Blerand Stavileci (PDK) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Slobodan Petrović as Minister for Local Government and Radojica Tomić (SLS) in the Department of Return and Communities.

Not a legitimate choice of Pacollis

On March 30, 2011 - after about a month in office - Behgjet Pacolli resigned from the president's seat. He responded to the March 28 ruling by the Kosovar Constitutional Court, which declared his February 22 election to be illegitimate and unconstitutional. According to the court, there were no opposing candidates in the third attempt at the presidential election, which made the election unconstitutional. On April 7th - after the PDK, LDK and AKR had reached an agreement with the US ambassador in Prishtina John L. Withers II - the election of the new president took place in parliament. The options were the policewoman Atifete Jahjaga and purely formally (in consideration of the constitution) Suzana Novobërdaliu from the AKR. At that parliamentary session was Vetëvendosje! the only party not present; she justified her decision with the fact that the candidates standing for election were not sufficiently qualified and that they were selected by the "American Withers".

The election was finally won by Jahjaga with 80 out of 100 possible votes. Your opponent received only ten votes. Many women's rights activists triumphed because women in Kosovo had not previously held any important state offices. The Vetëvendosje! describe the new president as a puppet of the United States.

Behgjet Pacolli was later appointed as his second deputy by Prime Minister Thaçi.

Others

The Serbian government had previously otherwise expressly called as in elections to boycott. Nevertheless, the Serbs in northern Kosovo almost completely stayed away from the vote. The turnout among the Serb minority in the south of Kosovo, on the other hand, was almost the same as that of the Albanians. In contrast to the north, which is almost exclusively inhabited by Serbs, the Serbs in the south live in enclaves and therefore have a greater incentive to work with the political institutions of Kosovo.

Web links

 Wikinews: First parliamentary elections in Kosovo since the declaration of independence  - news

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Official final results of January 30, 2011 ( Memento of January 24, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 356 kB)
  2. ↑ tagesschau.de: Parliament in Kosovo dissolved ( Memento from November 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ a b www.derstandard.at Election campaign in Kosovo - corruption, crime and the EU
  4. ↑ Independent Kosovo has voted , Deutsche Welle , December 12, 2010.
  5. ↑ www.kqz-ks.org ( Memento from November 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) candidate list
  6. ↑ Andreas Ernst: A state in suspension. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 5, 2010, accessed December 7, 2010 .
  7. ↑ Michael Martens: The hour of taboo breakers. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . December 12, 2010, accessed December 13, 2010 .
  8. ^ A b Norbert Mappes-Niediek : Buyable candidates. In: Frankfurter Rundschau . December 11, 2010, accessed December 13, 2010 .
  9. ↑ a b cf. Kosovo: Prime Minister Thaçi wins parliamentary elections at Spiegel Online , December 13, 2010 (accessed December 13, 2010)
  10. ↑ Rivotim në pesë komuna ( Memento from February 18, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  11. ↑ Zëri on December 13, 2010 in: Në Drenicë votuan 149% e votuesve!
  12. ↑ Parliamentary elections are mostly repeated. In: ORF . January 7, 2011, accessed January 7, 2011 .
  13. ↑ Election results questioned in Kosovo. December 15, 2010, accessed February 1, 2011 .
  14. ↑ DerStandard : Thaçi forms new government
  15. ↑ DerStandard : Controversial Pacolli elected President of Kosovo. February 22, 2011, accessed February 22, 2011 .
  16. ↑ DerStandard : Thaçi in coalition with Pacolli. February 22, 2011, accessed February 22, 2011 .
  17. ↑ Official website of the Kosovar Parliament: Kuvendi zgjodhi Presidentin dhe Qeverinë e Republikës së Kosovës ("The Parliament elects the President and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo"). February 22, 2011, Retrieved February 23, 2011 (Albanian).
  18. ^ Pacolli resigned as President of Kosovo , Radio DRS Switzerland, last accessed on April 3, 2011