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 Albanian nationalism, Social democracy,
      Social liberalism,
      Pro-Europeanism
      Political position Centre-left
      International affiliation None
      European affiliation None
      Colours Red, Black
      Assembly
      34 / 120
      Website
      http://www.pdk-ks.org/

      Politics of Kosovo
      Political parties
      Elections

      Coat of arms of Kosovo.svg
      This article is part of the series:
      Politics and government of
      Kosovo

      The Democratic Party of Kosovo (Albanian: Partia Demokratike e Kosovës, PDK) is the largest political party in Kosovo[a] . It is a social democratic[citation needed] party with social liberal tendencies. It is the main centre-left 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.

      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.[1]

      Members of the Party for the Democratic Progress of Kosovo were blacklisted in 2001 Wikisource:Executive Order 13219.[2]

      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.

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      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 current 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.[3] 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.

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      Last modified on 13 May 2013, at 19:25