Democratic Party of Kosovo

Democratic Party of Kosovo
Democratic Party of Kosovo
Partia Demokratike e Kosovës
Demokratska partija Kosova
Leader Hashim Thaçi
Founded May 14, 1999
Headquarters Pristina, Kosovo[a]
Ideology Democratic Socialism
Economic liberalism [1]
Pro-Europeanism [2]
Anti-Serb sentiment
Political position Centre-left
International affiliation None
European affiliation None
Official colours Red, Black
Assembly
34 / 120
Website
http://www.pdk-ks.org/
Politics of Kosovo
Political parties
Elections
Kosovo

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Kosovo


Political status of Kosovo



See also Portal:Politics   v · d · e

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (Albanian: Partia Demokratike e Kosovës - short PDK) is the largest political party in Kosovo[a] . It is a social democratic[citation needed] party and the main leftist party in Kosovo.

It is headed by Hashim Thaçi, the political leader of the former Kosovo Liberation Army. The first post-war Prime Minister of Kosovo, Bajram Rexhepi, belongs to the Democratic Party of Kosovo. The party stands for an independent, free and democratic Kosovo, as do all other ethnic-Albanian political parties.

Contents

History

The party was founded on May 14, 1999 from the political wing of the Kosovo Liberation Army as the Party for the Democratic Progress of Kosovo (Partia për Progres Demokratik e Kosovës), but was renamed on May 21, 2000. The party has increased in size and regional scope, initially winning governing spot in the elections of 2007 and winning most of the regional elections in the municipal elections of 2009. PDK renewed its governing mandate after winning the elections of 2010.[3]

Members of the Party for the Democratic Progress of Kosovo were blacklisted in 2001 Wikisource:Executive Order 13219.[4]

In the 2004 legislative elections, the party won 28.9 % of the popular vote and 30 out of 120 seats in the Assembly of Kosovo; in 2007 PDK won a majority for the first time with 35% of the vote, and in 2010's disputed elections, PDK won again with 32% of the vote.

Elections 2010

Parliamentary elections were held on 12 December 2010, first such elections organized by Kosovans themselves since the declaration of independence. After early results, Hashim Thaçi who was on course to gain 32 per cent of the vote, claimed victory for PDK, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and stated his intention to continue governing for another 4 years. After accusations of vote-rigging and subsequent repeated voting in several municipalities, Thaçi formed a coalition with current President Behgjet Pacolli's Alliance for New Kosovo which was in the fourth place with 8 percent of the vote. The turnout at the election was significantly higher than usual with Serbs who accepted to vote for Kosovo elections.[5] Following the confirmation of final election results, PDK and AKR formed a government with a program dedicated to EU integrations. The new government included many of the younger generation of PDK membership such as Bedri Hamza, Memli Krasniqi, Vlora Citaku, Blerand Stavileci, Petrit Selimi, etc.

See also

Notes and references

Notes:

a. ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Serbia and the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosovo. The latter declared independence on 17 February 2008, while Serbia claims it as part of its own sovereign territory. Its independence is recognised by 85 UN member states.

References:

External links