Political Parties

A political party is an organized group of people who have the same ideology, or who otherwise have the same political positions, and who field candidates for elections, in an attempt to get them elected and thereby implement the party's agenda. While there is some international commonality in the way political parties are recognized and in how they operate, there are often many differences, and some are significant. Many political parties have an ideological core, but some do not, and many represent ideologies very different from their ideology at the time the party was founded.

Kosovo has a multi-party system with numerous political parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments which happens every year. Since Kosovo declared independence in 2008, no government has finished the 4 year mandate.

Political Parties in Kosovo, Organizational Structure and Their Internal Democracy

The collapse of communism in the former Eastern bloc , which was followed by the establishment of democracies popular and holding free elections to the parliaments of the countries concerned had its impact in Kosovo , which although occupied accepted among first democracy in the former Yugoslavia , which was followed by the creation of political parties at that time. The role of political parties in the years of occupation there was a genuine character of party activity as a result of the occupation, because the main word on Kosovo was Serbian government, installed after violent suppression of Kosovo's autonomy in 1989.
Political parties in general It served as a national movement, some of which joined the Kosovo Albanians by articulating their demands for freedom and independence. This included organizing parties in Kosovo and the Albanian parties in other areas in the former Yugoslavia was organized by the Coordination Council of Albanian Parties. End of the war in 1999 brought a completely new situation, changing political scene with the formation of more political parties, as well as providing more opportunities for a better organization of the political scene. Some of the political parties no longer exist, while others have a very small number of members. The formation of new parties expected profiling of political scene, however, serves only their declarative they are right or left, in most cases a proper profiling has not happened yet. Political parties in Kosovo even after so many years of activity apparently still in the phase of consolidation but also in search of their identity.

Political Parties in Kosovo

Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK

The PDK is Kosovo’s largest political party and currently leads the government, with party leader Hashim Thaci the incumbent Prime Minister.

The party was founded on May 14, 1999, from the political wing of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

It was first named the Party for the Democratic Progress of Kosovo, but in May 21, 2000, changed to the Democratic Party of Kosovo.

Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK
The LDK is Kosovo’s oldest party, and currently the second-largest. It is a junior partner in the PDK-led coalition government.

In response to the removal of Kosovo’s autonomy in 1989 by Slobodan Milosevic, the Democratic League of Kosovo was formed by a group of intellectuals headed by Ibrahim Rugova, seen as the pacifist leader of Kosovo’s struggle for independence.