FACTBOX - Kosovo ahead of Oct 6 snap general elections

Haradinaj stepped down after he was summoned to appear for questioning as suspect before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague. The institution is investigating crimes committed during the 1990s guerrilla war waged by Kosovo's ethnic Albanians against Serbia's government forces.

This will be the country's fourth general elections after it proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008.

Some 20 political parties, four coalitions and one independent candidate from the Bosniak community will be competing in the election. Out of the total, 20 seats are reserved for ethnic minorities, including ten for ethnic Serbs.

Haradinaj's government was formed following early general elections held in June 2017, after a coalition of three political parties led by former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders won 33.74% of the vote.

KEY CONTENDERS

The main contenders in Sunday's race are Albin Kurti's Self-Determination Movement (LVV), Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Kadri Veseli's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), as well as a coalition between Haradinaj’s Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSD).

The opposition nationalist VV, which has repeatedly accused Haradinaj’s government of corruption and nepotism, had 31 seats in the previous parliament.

LDK is led by Isa Mustafa, prime minister in 2014- 2017 period. It has nominated Vjosa Osmani as its candidate for prime minister. The party had 24 seats in the previous parliament.

PDK, which had 21 seats in the previous parliament, led the ruling coalition formed in 2017. The coalition comprised also AAK (10 seats) and Nisma (8 seats). Nisma is led by Fatmir Limaj, a former transport minister who has left PDK.

KEY FACTS ABOUT THE VOTE:

*The Assembly of Kosovo has one chamber. It consists of 120 members and is elected for a four-year term. Representation is proportional.

*The entry threshold is set at 5.0%, minority parties are exempt.

*A total of 1.9 million Kosovo citizens aged 18 and over are eligible to vote, including Kosovars residing abroad. A total of 35,087 Kosovars from the diaspora have declared willingness to vote by post.

*Kosovo has a 30% quota for women in the municipal and national assemblies.

* The European Union has deployed a mission to observe the early parliamentary elections in Kosovo in response to an invitation by president Hashim Thaci

*The first general elections in the country were held in 2010 and were organized under international guidance and monitoring.