By: Ben Andoni
Even though Kosovo’s general elections had been set for months (since September) and it was claimed that all necessary measures had been taken, the Central Election Commission (CEC) left much to be desired. However, time and investigations will reveal whether it was solely their fault. If interference is uncovered, then the concern is serious, the myth of fair elections collapses, and Kosovo joins the club of other troubled countries in the region. This time, only Kosovo made the difference. We can only hope that this precedent does not become the norm because, usually, it marks the path that Albanian elections—on both sides of the border—regularly follow.
In Tirana, there was a race among journalists, but even more among analysts, to see who could predict the results of Kosovo’s elections the fastest. The most optimistic among them projected the outcome by 10:00 PM on February 9, others by 11:00 PM. They all agreed that by midnight on February 10, the vote count and results would be finalized. Likewise, most of them concurred that Vetëvendosje (VV) was leading in electoral projections, that the opposing parties would congratulate each other, and that the only curiosity left was how the victory would be celebrated. Yet, as this article is being written, at 5:00 PM on February 15, the vote count is still not complete. According to the Central Election Commission, 99.72% of the votes have been counted: Vetëvendosje has secured 40.84% or 341,672 votes, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has 22.15% or 184,499 votes, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) has 17.59% or 147,827 votes, while AAK-NISMA Conservatives-Intellectuals-Ideal have 7.47% or 62,309 votes.
So, what happened? The CEC failed to properly inform the public about the results. The official website was continuously down. Reporters and journalists covering the elections on the ground saw that the only way to access CEC information was through a single monitor placed at the building’s entrance. From the start, 700 votes from the diaspora were annulled, and Kosovar analysts expect the number of invalid votes to reach several thousand. The electronic presentation of vote counts on the CEC’s official website was nothing short of laughable. To make things even more confusing, the head of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, stated that the figures on the website should not be taken into account… “Somehow, we’ll let you know who got how many votes.” But it didn’t stop there—over 30,000 votes counted did not match the number of ballots cast. It appears that manual verification was initiated. In fact, Kosovar colleagues claim that the CEC failed to notice that their website had been attacked two days before the elections, and concerns are mounting that the entire electoral process could be contested due to the absence of serial numbers on ballots.
This was just one side of the problem. The other involved the conduct of Vetëvendosje, the leading party. A further concern was the offensive language used by Prime Minister Albin Kurti after his victory. “Did you see the nonsense they promised? They said the state budget would become bigger than the gross domestic product. What fools,” said Kurti in Pristina, creating a barrier that will be difficult to overcome in future relations. This might have been overlooked if his words were meant solely to appease his militants, but they stood in stark contrast to the far more composed attitude of the LDK leader, Lumir Abdixhiku, who took full responsibility for his party’s results. Similarly, Bedri Hamza of the PDK failed to present himself as a gracious loser.
Who was interested in creating this mess in 2025? Will anyone be held accountable for the CEC’s failures, or should we simply call it negligence? Could Kosovo’s current political actors have avoided damaging the process? Many questions, but no answers—just insults and Vetëvendosje’s misplaced glee, a party now reduced to 10%.
The epilogue is left to us Albanians on this side of the border, where Kosovo’s example has served not only as a basis for comparison but also as a way to confront our own politicians with their theatrical posturing about the sacred duty of voting and the citizen’s responsibility. A belief that, in many cases, has been proven wrong by our voters, who give away their votes cheaply because that’s how our relationship with power works—we give it away for nothing. “The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all,” said John F. Kennedy—words that now even in the United States seem absurd, as their democracy is wounded, while in Albania and Kosovo, it is in agony. (Javanews)
