The opposition has disrupted Parliament since September with tear gas, pepper spray, whistles and water bottles to reject a deal between Kosovo and Serbia, reached a year ago, which gives more powers to ethnic Serbs in Kosovo.
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Many Kosovo Albanians believe last year’s accord with Serbia could erode that hard-won sovereignty, though its status is unclear after a Kosovo constitutional court ruling in December that parts of it breach the country’s laws.
Since Tuesday, it has pitched tents in downtown Pristina calling for the government’s resignation and fresh elections, or they won’t move from the place.
Police in full riot gear backed by armoured vehicles used tear gas and water cannons to disperse several hundred demonstrators.
His opponent Rafet Rama, also from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, won 4 votes and 27 other votes were declared invalid.
They also oppose a border demarcation agreement with Montenegro.
But the united opposition bloc and its supporters vowed to scupper Friday’s vote with their protests inside and outside the legislature in the capital Pristina.
Hashim Thaci has been elected as Kosovo’s president after 71 of the country’s 120 MPs voted in favour of his nomination.
As soon as the first round of voting began on Friday, violent protests erupted outside the parliament building.
Despite heavy security at the entrance to parliament, opposition MPs subsequently opened two tear gas canisters in the chamber, forcing deputies to evacuate the hall and the parliamentary speaker to call a short break. They said protests outside parliament would continue until the government resigned and organised new elections.
The father-of-one is also accused of corruption by protesters, who took to the streets to try to stop him from becoming president amid anger over Kosovo’s slow development and lack of jobs.
“Our protests will not stop, they will get bigger”, Visar Ymeri, leader of the biggest opposition party Vetevendosje, told a press conference.
Thaci was mentioned in a 2010 Council of Europe report which claimed that leaders of the now disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Serbs, Roma and ethnic Albanians suspected of collaborating with Serbs. He served as Kosovo’s prime minister when it declared independence in 2008.
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While improved relations with Serbia are a step towards Thaci’s dream of joining the European Union, many are sceptical about whether he is the man to unite Kosovo and lead it into the bloc.
