
(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DEC 29 - In Kosovo, while the vote count is almost complete, with 99.2% of ballots counted by the Central Election Commission, yesterday's parliamentary election victory for Vetevendosje, the party of outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti, has been confirmed. With postal votes and those cast by the diaspora in embassies abroad still to be counted, Vetevendosje won 49.3% of the vote, followed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK, centre-right) with 21%, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK, centre-right) with 13.5%, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK, centre-right) with 5.6%. VV won 56 seats (out of a total of 120 in the Pristina parliament), the PDK 23, the LDK 15, and the AAK 5. Of the three parties competing to represent the Serbian minority, the largest and most important in the country, the Srpska Lista (SL) won 4.7% of the vote and all 10 seats allocated by law to the Serbian community in Kosovo, as predicted. This was contested by one of the other two Serbian parties, which claims to have won a seat. Of the 120 seats in parliament, 20 are allocated by law to minorities, half of which are reserved for Serbs. Voter turnout, as reported by the Election Commission, was 44.9 percent, up from about 41 percent in the previous legislative elections held on Feb. 9. Great satisfaction with his party's Vetevendosje election result was expressed by outgoing Prime Minister Kurti, who late last night expressed confidence that he could now form a new government quickly, something he had failed to do in the past 10 months after the February vote, a circumstance that led to yesterday's new recourse to the polls. Despite the fact that VV does not have an absolute majority of at least 50 percent and 61 seats, observers believe that with the ballots still to be counted and the support of some minority deputies, Kurti and his party should succeed this time in forming a new executive, which will face tasks that are not easy, starting with economic recovery, restoring international credibility and continuing the dialogue with Serbia, which is being held with EU mediation and has been in a prolonged stalemate for some time. (ANSA).