Kosovo goes to the polls Sunday in a parliamentary election expected to be a key test for Prime Minister Albin Kurti after his governing party won in a landslide four years ago.
Eligible voters, including those of the diaspora, will cast ballots to elect 120 lawmakers among 26 political groupings and one independent candidate in a vote held from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. The Serb minority has 10 secured seats while 10 more are for other minorities.
This is the first time since independence in 2008 that Kosovo’s parliament has completed a full four-year mandate. It is the ninth parliamentary vote in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-1999 war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that pushed Serbian forces out following a 78-day NATO air campaign. Serbia does not recognize Kosovo’s independence, proclaimed in 2008.
Kurti’s left-wing Vetevendosje! or Self-Determination Movement Party is seen as the front-runner but is not expected to win the necessary majority to govern alone, leaving open the possibility the other two contenders join ranks if he fails to form a Cabinet.