Kosovo held snap parliamentary elections on December 28, the second general elections this year, resulting in a convincing victory for Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Self-Determination Movement (LVV). According to preliminary results, LVV won around 431,442 votes, or 44.30 percent, nearly 35,000 more than in the February elections.
Preliminary projections suggest that LVV could secure up to 56 seats in the Assembly, compared to 48 in February, significantly strengthening Kurti’s position to form a new government — potentially without relying on the Serbian List.
Commenting on the results, Leart Hoxha, editor at ATV television and political analyst, told KoSSev that while the diaspora played a role, it was not decisive in LVV’s victory.
“The diaspora is certainly an important factor, but it is not decisive,” Hoxha said.
Elections were held at the end of December, a period when a traditionally large number of citizens living abroad are present in Kosovo. However, citing research data, Hoxha noted that only around 15 percent of voters were outside Kosovo on election day but cast their ballots at polling stations inside the territory — approximately 135,000 votes.
“Even if we exclude that figure, Self-Determination remains convincingly the strongest party in the elections,” he added.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) came in second with around 21 percent of the vote, or 183,826 ballots. The biggest setback was recorded by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), which secured 13.57 percent (118,772 votes), marking a drop of about five percentage points compared to February.
LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku took responsibility for the poor performance, announcing a period of internal reflection and leaving open the possibility of stepping down as party leader.
According to Hoxha, LDK’s decline was largely expected.
“Everything they could have done wrong since February, they did wrong,” he said.
“They neither advocated for an opposition-led government nor accepted LVV’s invitation to join a governing coalition. They were comfortable in opposition, and when a party does not strive to exercise power but instead settles for comfortable opposition, voters logically do not want to waste their vote in that way.”
The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) crossed the electoral threshold with 5.68 percent of the vote (49,675), while the Serbian List won 4.78 percent (41,823), more than 3,000 votes more than in the February elections, according to its leader Zlatan Elek.
A total of 24 political entities participated in the elections — 18 political parties, three coalitions, two civic initiatives, and one independent candidate — with approximately 1,180 candidates competing for Assembly seats. Voter turnout stood at 44.99 percent, while diaspora votes are expected to be counted around January 5.
Hoxha also addressed comparisons between LDK’s relatively strong performance in the October local elections and its sharp decline in the general elections, noting that voters apply different criteria.
“Mayors in Kosovo have broad powers. Local elections are pragmatic — voters focus on local issues such as road construction, paving, buildings, and infrastructure,” he explained.
“What happened to LDK now, as well as in previous elections, is the best example of how a party fares when it mistakenly relies on local election success to carry over into general elections.”
Looking ahead, Hoxha predicts political stability in the coming months, arguing that the opposition is unlikely to risk new blockades or fresh elections.
“I doubt that opposition parties can afford another blockage and new elections, especially considering how they performed,” he said.
He also believes Kurti will have little difficulty forming the Assembly leadership and a new government. When negotiations begin over the election of the Speaker of the Assembly, Hoxha expects Kurti to be able to push through his preferred candidate.
“I can imagine individual MPs creating a quorum for whoever has Kurti’s support in order to save their own political careers,” Hoxha concluded. “They have been elected now, but whether they will be elected next time is uncertain. They may have to wait four years, not just a few months.”
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