Kosovo lawmakers vote to dissolve parliament

Members of Kosovo parliament backed the motion to dissolve the legislature on Thursday, leaving President Hashim Thaci a 45-day deadline to call for a new election.

Thaci reportedly mentioned October 6 as a possible date for the snap poll, according to a source cited by Kosovo daily Koha Ditore.

The move comes after former guerrilla commander Ramush Haradinaj resigned as prime minister last month. An EU-backed court demanded Haradinaj appear at The Hague for questioning over his actions in the 1998-1999 insurgency against Serbian forces. While stepping down, Haradinaj stressed he was a suspect, but not facing charges.

Read more: Haradinaj resignation as a political bombshell in Kosovo

Haradinaj also said he intends to run in the next election.

On Thursday, Haradinaj hailed the vote as a "signal of a high degree of maturity and democracy".
The 51-year-old politician has already been acquitted twice on charges of war crimes by a different Hague-based court. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing during the war. Earlier this year, however, he was criticized for appointing Sylejman Selimi, a convicted war criminal and another militant commander, as his political advisor.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci was also a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the conflict.

dj/ng (Reuters, AFP, Beta)

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