Kosovo’s left-wing Self-Determination Movement (Vetevendosje) led by acting PM Albin Kurti is leading in the snap parliamentary election held on December 28, securing 50.2% of the vote after 87.5% of polling stations had been counted, according to preliminary data from the state election commission.

The result is a significant improvement on the February 9 election for Vetevendosje, which won 42.3% of the vote but failed to form a government. That left Kosovo in political limbo for most of 2025, until the snap election in December. 

The snap elections were triggered after the Assembly failed to elect a government under a second mandate holder in November, forcing its dissolution under constitutional rules.

Before the election, some analysts warned that snap elections might not automatically resolve Kosovo’s political deadlock.

President Vjosa Osmani has urged political forces to move quickly towards forming a new parliament and government to advance key reforms and stabilise institutions.

Coalition talks collapsed earlier in 2025 after the main opposition parties – the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) – refused to enter a governing alliance with Vetevendosje.

According to preliminary results from the December vote, the PDK ranked second with 20.8%, followed by the LDK with 14.0%, while the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) secured 6.0%. Nearly 2mn citizens were eligible to vote in Kosovo’s second general election of the year.

In total, 24 political entities competed in the vote for 120 MPs, including 18 parties, three coalitions, two civic initiatives and one independent candidate. There were 1,180 candidates in total.

Under Kosovo’s constitution, the 120-member Assembly includes reserved seats for minority communities, with 10 mandates guaranteed for ethnic Serbs and a further 10 allocated to other minorities.

The elections recorded a historic turnout. With more than 99.6% of polling stations processed, 899,524 citizens cast their ballots, equivalent to nearly 45% of eligible voters, data of the election commission showed.

This surpassed the previous record set in February, when 871,662 people voted at polling stations. Including diaspora and special votes, turnout in February reached about 966,000, according to Koha.net.

Kosovo police said the voting process passed largely smoothly, without serious incidents. Analysts attribute the high turnout partly to the holiday period, which saw hundreds of thousands of diaspora citizens return to Kosovo in recent weeks.