Democratic Party of Kosovo

Democratic Party of Kosovo
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Leader	Hashim Thaçi
Founded	May 14, 1999
Headquarters	Pristina, Kosovo
Ideology	Pro-Europeanism, Civic nationalism, Social liberalism
Political position	Centre-right
European affiliation	None
International affiliation	None
Colours	Red, Black
Assembly	37 / 120
Website
http://www.pdk.info
Politics of Kosovo Political parties Elections

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (Albanian: Partia Demokratike e Kosovës, PDK) is the largest political party in Kosovo. It was originally a social democratic party coming out of demilitarized KLA after the war with most of the leadership being former members of PMK, but during its congress on January 2013, it positioned itself as a center-right party. It is the main center-right party in Kosovo. The party shows strong social and economic liberalism tendencies.

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 supports Kosovo independence, as do all other ethnic-Albanian political parties.

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.

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

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. In 2010's disputed elections, PDK won again with 32% of the vote.

Elections 2010

Parliamentary elections were held on 12 December 2010, the first such elections organized by Kosovans since their 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. He said he intended to continue governing for another 4 years. After accusations of vote-rigging, voting was repeated in several municipalities. With more than 30 per cent of the vote, Thaçi formed a coalition with the Alliance for New Kosovo (AKR), led by the ex-president, Behgjet Pacolli. It was in fourth place with 8 percent of the vote.

The turnout at the election was significantly higher than usual, augmented by Serbs who decided to vote in the disputed republic. Following the confirmation of the 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 members, such as Bedri Hamza, Memli Krasniqi, Vlora Citaku, Blerand Stavileci, Petrit Selimi, etc.

See also

• Democratic League of Kosovo
• Alliance for the Future of Kosovo
• Reformist Party ORA
• New Kosovo Alliance

Notes and references

Notes:

a.

^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the Brussels Agreement. Kosovo has been recognised as an independent state by 108 out of 193 United Nations member states.

References:

External links

• Partia Demokratike e Kosovës The official website