Hamza: Limaj will not be part of the PDK list in the June elections

2026-05-11 18:30:45, Kosova & Bota CNA

The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Bedri Hamza, said that Fatmir Limaj and the Social Democratic Initiative will not be part of the entity's competition list for the early parliamentary elections on June 7.

Hamza announced this news after a meeting of his party's leadership, emphasizing that the meeting addressed the request, namely the letter that the leader of the Social Democratic Initiative, Fatmir Limaj - once an important PDK exponent - sent to him.

"Regarding the competition on this list, the general position is that initially there should be support for PDK, a good will from the Social Democratic Initiative, then in the next elections we will deal with them when they come in the right way. But, this time Mr. Limaj will not be part of the PDK list," Hamza told reporters.

Hamza said that in the request that Limaj sent to PDK, he did not ask to be part of the running list himself.

However, the PDK leader said that they expect the support of Limaj and the Social Democratic Initiative in the June 7 elections, emphasizing that "I am convinced that this support will reflect in the increase in votes for PDK."

The PDK leader said that he does not rule out the possibility that in the future, the Social Democratic Initiative or members of this party could join the entity he leads.

For the June 7 elections – which came after MPs failed to elect a new president – ??according to the Central Election Commission, 22 political entities and three coalitions have registered, while nine entities have withdrawn from running alone or in coalition.

Among the parties that have not registered for the election race is the Social Democratic Initiative.

Belgzim Kamberi from the non-governmental Institute for Social Policy "Musine Kokalari" in Pristina previously told Radio Free Europe that the Vetëvendosje Movement will benefit from the absence of Nisma in the race.

"Of course, the government benefits from Nisma's non-participation, because if we consider that Nisma had joined PDK, the votes would have gone to this entity, now some of the votes that belong to Nisma are being lost," he emphasized.

According to him, this direction harms "the opposition in general, but also the PDK in a purely electoral sense."

Limaj stated a few days ago on Dukagjini television that he is interested in the Social Democratic Initiative merging with the PDK.

Otherwise, the Social Democratic Initiative competed alone in the last parliamentary elections held on December 28, 2025. Limaj's party received 15,189 votes, or 1.59 percent, failing to cross the 5 percent threshold to enter the Assembly.

Meanwhile, in the parliamentary elections of February 2025, Limaj competed together with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and out of the eight mandates won, three MPs were from the Social Democratic Initiative. /REL