Democratic Party of Kosovo

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (Albanian: Partia Demokratike e Kosovës - short PDK) is the largest political party in Kosovo. It is a Social Democratic party and the main leftist party in Kosovo.

It is headed by Hashim Thaçi, the political leader of the former Kosovo Liberation Army. The first post-war Prime Minister of Kosovo, Bajram Rexhepi, belongs to the Democratic Party of Kosovo. The party stands for an independent, free and democratic Kosovo and like all other ethnic-Albanian political parties.

History
The party was founded on May 14 1999 from the political wing of the Kosovo Liberation Army as the Party for the Democratic Progress of Kosovo (PPDK), but was renamed in May 21 2000 on the party's constituent conference due to a controversy over the Albanian word for progress, which was said to lack Albanian origins.

In the 2004 legislative elections, the party won 28.9 % of the popular vote and 30 out of 120 seats in the Assembly of Kosovo.

Election 2007
Parliamentary elections were held on 17 November 2007. After early results, Hashim Thaçi who was on course to gain 35 per cent of the vote, claimed victory for PDK, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and stated his intention to declare independence. Thaçi formed a coalition with current President Fatmir Sejdiu's Democratic League which was in second place with 22 percent of the vote. The turnout at the election was particularly low with most Serbs refusing to vote.