The head of the Vetevendosje movement, Albin Kurti, says the so-called “future emergency government,” established by the opposition parties, will suspend talks with Serbia, the implementation of the Association of Serb Municipalities, and privatization of enterprises. In a press conference, he said that Vetevendosje is not worried about posts in this government.
The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Isa Mustafa, said in an interview for the paper that even if it is decided that opposition parties cannot form a government and new elections are scheduled, the main opposition parties – the LDK, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Initiative for Kosovo and Vetevendosje – will run together as a bloc against Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).
One day after Kosovars voted to elect their representatives for the Kosovo Assembly, the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) presented preliminary findings on the process. The Sunday elections were more transparent, well-organized and consolidated than the 2013 local elections, said Roberto Gualtieri, the Head of EUEOM. The final report is expected to be published after two months.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) was not able to provide preliminary results of the vote counting yesterday, even though they have announced that in their last press conference on Sunday. The head of the CEC, Valdete Daka, said that the early results do not include the votes of people who voted outside their normal polling stations, votes sent by mail, and votes of persons with special needs, adding that votes from 17 polling stations had still not be counted. As of yesterday evening, on the CEC web page, only 99.62 percent of votes had been counted.
The Ambassador of the United Kingdom in Kosovo, Ian Cliff, in an interview for Radio Free Europe, said that the people of Kosovo were voting like European citizens. “What I have seen so far, these elections look like anywhere else in Europe,” said Ambassador Cliff. However, he said that not everything is finished yet, and he called for the same behavior to continue also during the counting of votes. He said the message that there should not be any fraud had been received very well, said Ambassador Cliff.
The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) expressed regret about the phenomenon of ballot stuffing from PDK supporters, which allegedly occurred yesterday in a few voting centers in Skenderaj/Srbica. The LDK called on the relevant institutions to take the necessary measures to protect the voting process. The LDK strongly affirmed that it would not accept any result based on fraud.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) says that yesterday’s parliamentary elections are the best elections held after the conflict in Kosovo. In a third press conference, Minister Vlora Citaku talked also about the Democracy in Action reports of ballot stuffing in Skenderaj/ Srbica, adding that “slander” was also a criminal act, and that the Democracy in Action reports were not true.
The Democracy in Action (DiA) coalition, which monitored the election, reported that the voting process had gone well with only a few minor incidents. Those incidents, however, did not influence the smooth election process.
US Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson wrote that it is vital that all communities vote on Sunday. She made this comment via the social network Twitter, after an interview for Zvecan’s TV Most. Free and democratic elections would be a condition for continuing American support for Kosovo, she said.
Doris Pack, a German member of the European Parliament, said elections are being held because they were necessary. She also hopes that many people in Kosovo will take part in the process, adding that the participation of people in the north is particularly important. “Kosovo needs a strong government that is committed enough to make the necessary reforms and improve relations with neighbors. This is extremely important for all countries in the region and in particular for the European Union, which wants to see a peaceful region in the Balkans.