Preliminary election results 2025: in context

2019-2021: how the political spectrum changed

In the October 2019 elections, VV beat the second-place party, LDK, by a small margin of 15,000 votes. LDK had Vjosa Osmani as its candidate for prime minister. VV received 221,001 votes, while LDK received 206,516.

The governing coalition from those elections, VV-LDK, formed the government on February 3, 2020, with Albin Kurti becoming prime minister and Osmani becoming Assembly speaker. The coalition was dissolved on March 25, 2020, when the governing partner LDK, led by Isa Mustafa, toppled the Kurti government with a no-confidence vote as Kosovo faced the COVID-19 pandemic.

In June 2020, LDK formed a new government in coalition with AAK and the minority parties, and Avdullah Hoti from LDK led the government until December 2020, when the Constitutional Court declared the election of this government null, which triggered new elections. 

After the fall of the VV-LDK government and the general elections of February 14, 2021, developments took place that impacted all political parties.

Osmani left LDK due to internal conflicts with the LDK leadership and formed the Guxo list, with which she joined VV through a coalition agreement before the 2021 elections. This entity ran alongside VV in the 2025 elections, but without Osmani, as she was elected president in April 2021.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers filed war crimes indictments against two key PDK figures: then-President Hashim Thaçi and then-party leader Kadri Veseli, both of whom resigned from their positions in November 2020. In the 2021 elections, PDK ran with Enver Hoxhaj as its leader, who was serving as acting party chairman at the time, while LDK was led by Avdullah Hoti, the party’s deputy chairman.

In the February 14, 2021 elections, VV secured a victory with 50.28% of the votes, winning 58 seats in the Kosovo Assembly. VV regarded this victory as a “referendum where the people clearly and decisively determined the path they want our country to take in the next four years.”

Kurti was not allowed to run on the election list due to a prior criminal conviction related to throwing tear gas in the Kosovo Assembly in 2015. The CEC barred individuals with criminal convictions in the past three years from participating. As a result, Osmani, who led the joint electoral list between VV, Guxo and the Alternativa party, received 300,788 votes, which accounted for 68% of all the votes secured by this joint list.

PDK ranked second with 17.01% of the votes, while LDK finished third with 12.73%. AAK received 7.12% of the votes, while NISMA did not pass the 5% threshold needed for representation in the Kosovo Assembly. This marked these parties’ worst performances since Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008.

As a result, PDK and LDK entered an internal reform process. In July 2021, PDK held internal elections, electing Memli Krasniqi, one of the party’s deputy leaders, as its chairman. Krasniqi had served as a minister twice between 2011 and 2017, when PDK was in power.

Several months before the 2025 elections, PDK proposed Bedri Hamza as a candidate for prime minister — a role that has always been held by the party’s leader. Hamza served as minister of finance for two terms (2011–2013 and 2017–2020) and as governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo (2013–2017). Since 2017, Hamza has been the mayor of South Mitrovica.

Meanwhile, LDK also committed to internal reform, electing Lumir Abdixhiku as party leader in March 2021 and nominating him as its candidate for prime minister for the 2025 elections. Abdixhiku served as minister of infrastructure and environment in 2019.

AAK and NISMA ran in these elections as a coalition, together with the E-30 and Konservatorët parties. The list leader and the coalition’s candidate for prime minister was Ramush Haradinaj.

What next?

In Kosovo, the process of forming a government begins after the CEC announces and certifies the official election results.

CEC typically certifies parliamentary election results within approximately one month, as seen in the February 14, 2021 elections, where certification occurred on March 13. The timeline depends on the complexity of the elections, the handling of complaints and the counting of all votes, including those from the diaspora. Once certified, the Assembly’s composition is finalized, with individual candidate votes also published.

After the Assembly is constituted, the president nominates a candidate for prime minister — known as the mandate holder.

The mandate holder must propose a government for approval by the Assembly within 15 days. Since it is rare for a single party to secure enough seats to govern alone, coalition agreements are often necessary. A majority of 61 votes is required for the government to be formed.

If the first mandate holder fails to secure the necessary majority, the president must, within 10 days, nominate a second candidate — typically from the second-largest party or coalition. This candidate follows the same procedure, requiring 61 votes for approval.

If neither candidate secures the required votes, new elections are called within 40 days. Historically, despite political challenges and pre-election red lines, parties have managed to negotiate coalitions to avoid repeat elections.

Since no party appears likely to win an outright majority to form a government alone, coalition negotiations are expected.

The results thus far do not include diaspora votes, conditional votes and votes from persons with disabilities. While these may not drastically change the outcome, they are essential for gaining a clearer picture of what these elections will bring.

Want to know more?

Continuing its tradition of election coverage, K2.0 provided comprehensive coverage of the 2025 elections through a series of diverse and interactive media content aimed at promoting informed voting. 

• Analysis of election programs
• Deconstructing promises: “What would it take?
  

Feature Image: Arrita Katona / K2.0.