Elections for the President of the Republic of Kosovo will take place within the constitutional deadline. The elections will be probably held in late February and the ruling coalition has no fear about the outcome because over two-thirds of the parliament support the government, said Petrit Selimi, Kosovo deputy FM, referring to the presidential campaign of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs and former Prime Minister Hashim Thaci. Selimi declared that since the election of the President is certain, the focus is actually on the steps to be taken after the elections to “provide successful implementation of the government plan.” “When Thaci takes over the presidency, he will withdraw from the helm of the Democratic Party of Kosovo,” said Selimi.
Kosovo’s constitution stipulates that in the first two rounds of voting, the presidential candidate needs to obtain at least 80 per cent of the votes in parliament, while a simple majority of 61 deputies is required in the third round. Early parliamentary elections will be held, if a candidate doesn’t get the necessary number of votes during the third voting.
