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Online Economy
- 11 October 2025 09:32
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The history of elections in a free Kosovo begins in 2000, when the first elections were organized.
On October 28 of that year, elections for the Municipal Assembly were held, marking the start of a long process for building the institutions of a country that was slowly preparing to become a state.
The electoral processes in Kosovo are divided into two important historical stages: the elections before and after the independence declared in 2008.
Since 2000 and until now, in 2025, dozens of national or partial election processes have been held in Kosovo.
For the Assembly of Kosovo alone, 9 electoral processes have been organized (2001, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2025), while for Municipal Assemblies, 8 such processes have been organized (2000, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2013, 2021 and 2025).
Direct elections for mayors began to be held in 2007 and since then 6 such electoral processes have been organized (2007, 2009, 2013, 2017, 2021 and 2025).
In an interview with Ekonomia Online, CEC spokesperson Valmir Elezi presented data only on the number of candidates who have been certified over the past 25 years in these 23 national election processes, without including candidates certified from partial or extraordinary elections in any given municipality.
"If we examine the historical aspect of the electoral processes in Kosovo, we can emphasize that during these 25 years they have directly involved a large number of citizens. According to statistics, more than 60 thousand people have participated in the electoral races, as candidates for deputies, mayors, and members of Municipal Assemblies. Of course, this figure also includes people who have run more than once, but who have been certified for more than one electoral process," said Elezi.
According to him, the largest number of certified candidates belong to the Municipal Assembly elections, due to the large number of seats contested, which ranged from 900 to 1,000.
"Of the total number of candidates who have competed during these 25 years, the largest number, around 49 thousand, has been certified in the elections for Municipal Assemblies. During the 9 election processes for the Assembly of Kosovo, more than 10 thousand candidates have been certified, while for 6 other election processes for Mayors, over 1,200 candidates have been certified," said Elezi.
The data presented by the CEC, of candidates certified over the years, show the profound difference between the two genders.
During these two and a half decades, out of the total number of candidates, over 19 thousand women and over 41 thousand men have been certified by the CEC for participation in electoral processes.
For the 2025 Local Elections alone, the CEC has certified 5,624 candidates, of which 205 candidates for the Mayoral Elections and 5,419 candidates for the Municipal Assembly Elections.
Of the total number, 205 candidates (185 men and 20 women) were certified for the elections for Mayors alone, while 5,419 candidates (3,395 men and 2,024 women) were certified for the elections for Municipal Assembly.