Kosovars on Sunday are heading to the polls to choose new members of the Balkan country’s 120-seat parliament.
NEARLY 2 MILLIONS VOTERS TO USE VOTE
The elections come after Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), stepped down this July, summoned by The Hague over his role in the 1998-99 insurgency against Serb forces.
Voting began at 7 a.m. local time and will continue till 7 p.m. (0500-1700GMT).
More than 1.9 million registered voters will able to cast their votes at nearly 900 polling stations throughout the country, according to Kosovo’s Central Election Commission.
While its current population is about 1.8-1.9 million people, according to the World Bank and other sources, Kosovo has a large expatriate population which is eligible to vote.
Kosovo is also the youngest country in Europe, with over half of its population under the age of 25. Some 50,000 observers are monitoring the election, where 20 political parties, four election alliances, and one independent candidate are competing.
Due to the large number of parties, another coalition government is expected to emerge from the ballot box. Albanians make up the majority of the population in Kosovo, which is also home to various minority groups such as Turks, Bosniaks, Serbs, Gorani, Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians.
Most of the ethnic Turks live in Mamusha and Prizren and make up 1.1% of the country’s population