January 19 (SeeNews) - The upcoming parliamentary elections in Kosovo are the country's last chance to eliminate political leaders tied with war and other crimes, which is a precondition for achieving progress, the International Institute for Middle East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES), a Slovenian think-tank, said ahead of the February 14 early vote.
"The country has become an experimental area in which the fight for power is uncompromising," the institute said in an analysis published last week.
The political structures ignore the citizens and the business community and additional problems such as low budget reserves and insufficient government support affect workers and will reflect on the economic and social aspects, the institute said. Remittances from the diaspora, which amounted to 800 million euro ($970 million) in 2020, were twice the size of the government's Covid-19 recovery package, according to the institute.
IFIMES added that media, internet and social networks, dominated by the younger population, will play an important role in the election campaign due to the Covid-19 pandemic and major floods that hit Kosovo recently.
The elections will be dominated by the Self-Determination Movement Vetevendosje (LVV), which is running in an alliance with the new Citizen List party, Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK). Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK), headed by former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, is also running in the elections.
Kosovo’s acting president Vjosa Osmani heads the Citizen List party, whose alliance with LVV currently represents the strongest political force, according to the institute.
Kosovo will go to early elections after a vote on the formation of the government last year was declared invalid.
In June, Kosovo’s parliament elected a coalition government led by Avdullah Hoti of the LDK party on the votes of 61 MPs in the 120-seat legislature. However, in December the constitutional court said one of the votes - that of Etem Arifi, MP of the Ashkali Party for Integration - was invalid because Arifi had been convicted in 2019. Thus, the government is not backed by a majority in parliament, the court said, adding that the current government will remain in office until new elections are held.
Kosovo, considered to be a potential candidate for EU membership by the European Commission, unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and has so far has been recognised by more than half of the 193 UN member states. Belgrade does not recognise Kosovo's independence.
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