Kosovo's parliament ousted Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's government in a no-confidence vote on Tuesday, paving the way for new elections.
The assembly voted 66-1 on Tuesday to bring down Thaci's government, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, and to disband Kosovo's 120-seat assembly. Minutes after the vote Kosovo's acting President Jakup Krasniqi set Dec. 12 as the date for general elections.
The parliament's vote follows weeks of political turmoil in Kosovo after Thaci's coalition partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo, of LDK, decided to leave the government. Friction between the two partners that oversaw Kosovo's secession from Serbia has plagued the government and crippled its work for months.
Thaci welcomed the vote as an act that "will lead Kosovo out of an institutional crisis" which he blamed upon his former coalition partners.
"The vote determines Kosovo's direction for the future," Thaci told reporters minutes after the vote. "It is a responsible decision that will mark a new beginning."
The balloting for the 120-seat assembly will be the first election since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.
Lawmakers from Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo also voted in favour of ending their governance, reflecting an apparent hope of securing another mandate in the upcoming poll.
The election finds the LDK locked in a leadership battle that threatens to further split the political party, which saw its heyday under the stewardship of iconic late President Ibrahim Rugova.
Relations between the coalition parties hit a sour point when Kosovo's constitutional Court ruled that President Fatmir Sejdiu of LDK violated the country's constitution by holding office and chairmanship of his party simultaneously.
Other political contenders are also burdened with political infighting. One of Thaci's main challengers -- the leader of the opposition party Alliance for the Future of Kosovo -- ex-premier Ramush Haradinaj is being retried by the U.N. war crimes tribunal weakening the party's chances in the ballot.
Thaci was quick to brush aside fears that the political turmoil could upend EU-sponsored talks between Kosovo and Serbia aimed at settling a score of disputes. Belgrade has consistently contested the sovereignty of its former province, among other issues.
"Under no circumstances will this have an effect on the mutual agenda drafted between Pristina, Brussels, Washington and Belgrade," he told The Associated Press in an interview just ahead of Tuesday's vote.
