Update June 12: According to the Central Election Commission, with 99.6 percent of votes counted, here are the tallies:
PDK – 34.02 percent
Vetevendosje 27.07 percent
LDK – 25.71 percent
Update 10:30 p.m.: As PDK supporters celebrate in the streets of Pristina, there is a tight race for second place. U.S. NGO Democracy in Action is reporting that with 70 percent of votes counted there are the following results:
PDK’s coalition: 34.2 percent
Vetevendosje: 26.3 percent
LDK’s coalition: 25.8 percent
Update 7:15 p.m.: An exit poll puts the PDK coalition – with Ramush Haradinaj (pictured below) as its prime minister candidate – in first place with 40 percent, followed by Vetevendosje – the party that was setting off tear gas in the parliament – at 30 percent and the LDK coalition – which includes the previous ruling party – at 27 percent. Both PDK and Vetevendosje have Albanian nationalist leanings despite being on opposing sides of the political spectrum.
Josh Friedman reports from Pristina on an election day in Kosovo in which a man recently arrested on a war crimes warrant is angling to become prime minister and a party that has been setting off tear gas in the parliament is striving to control the government.
The vote taking place Sunday is a snap parliamentary election. Kosovo’s previous government collapsed last month following a vote of no confidence.
Entering election day, Kosovo is entangled in a border dispute with Montenegro and stalled negotiations with Serbia. As Pristina has tried to ratify European Union-brokered deals with Montenegro and Serbia, nationalist sentiments have risen in Kosovo, and they could lead to a political shakeup.
For background on Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, or lack thereof, watch the following report from earlier this year: