PRISTINA: Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's PDK party was ahead in Sunday's parliamentary election in Kosovo, according to an early exit poll by an independent NGO and a well-known political analyst. The poll by Kosovo NGO Gani Bobi and political analyst Shkelzen Maliqi gave Thaci's LDK 31 percent of the vote ahead of its main rival, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), with 25 percent. The newcomer Self-determination party led by student activist-turned-politician Albin Kurti was in third place with 16 percent of the vote, according to the poll. Some 1.6 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots to elect 120 members of parliament. “We based our projection on interviews with over 2,200 people. There is a theoretic possibility that the percentages change because the margin of error is three percent. If the turnout is higher than the last elections the percentages can change,” Maliqi told a press conference. Thaci has been a key force in Kosovo politics for over a decade. Opinion polls ahead of the vote saw him in a neck-and-neck race with the opposition LDK. Since 2008, Kosovo has struggled to establish itself as an independent country. So far 70 countries, including the US and most EU nations, have recognized Kosovo as a state. – Agence France
