PRISTINA, Kosovo -- A coalition of former ethnic Albanian rebel commanders won the most votes Sunday in Kosovo's general election, which also saw a surge in popularity for a nationalist party, according to preliminary results.
The ex-rebels came in first with about 35 percent of the vote. The nationalist Self-Determination Movement was neck-and-neck with the coalition led by former Prime Minister Isa Mustafa, with about 26 percent each after the counting of about 70 percent of the votes, according to Democracy in Action, a monitoring group.
Based on the early results, it's likely that any group would need to form a larger coalition in order to govern.
The new Cabinet will have a tough job in resolving several issues, including the border demarcation deal with Montenegro. The approval of an agreement with Serbia, giving more rights to the ethnic Serb minority, and the continuation of fraught talks with Belgrade, which denies Kosovo's existence as a state, were also key concerns.
Ramush Haradinaj, whom the leading coalition has nominated to be prime minister, hailed Kosovars "for the trust given to the coalition," adding, "these are the best elections ever held" in Kosovo.
"The victory is convincing and [makes] us capable of operating further to create the country's government," he said.
The final results for the 120-seat parliament are expected later in the week. Ethnic Serbs and other minority groups have 20 seats.
Self-Determination Movement officials celebrated the results, which saw the party double its share of the vote. The party was a disruptive force in the previous parliament and is the biggest opposition party to shun pre-election coalitions. The party's members and supporters in the past have released tear gas inside parliament and thrown firebombs outside it to protest the contentious deals with Montenegro and Serbia.
The party has nominated its former leader, 42-year-old Albin Kurti, for prime minister.
The party says it "is the only one which is going to fight corruption in a successful way," send former officials to jail, and end the current talks with Serbia while seeking a closer union with neighboring Albania.
Kosovo's election authorities said preliminary figures put turnout in the country's general election at 41.79 percent.
Central Election Commission head Valdete Daka said that "there have been no problems that would gravely damage the process."
A Section on 06/12/2017