Memli Krasniqi, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, announced his resignation on Wednesday, four days after Kosovo held local elections and four months after he was re-elected in June for a second mandate at the party’s helm.

Citing the need for “reflection on the party’s future” as the reason for his resignation, Krasniqi said his decision to quit “was not spontaneous”.

He also played down any connection with the party’s results in the latest local elections, which saw the PDK losing control of two municipalities, South Mitrovica and Drenas/Glogovac, with the latter considered a traditional party stronghold. “It is the result of a longer reflection on what PDK needs in its next phase,” Krasniqi stated.

Krasniqi added that since he has no ambitions to run for prime minister, the party’s next leader “should also be its candidate for that position”

He said as party convention on November 17 will elect a new leader. “I am convinced the PDK’s candidate for prime minister should be Bedri Hamza, and if he decides to run for party chairman, he will have my full support,” he continued.

Under Krasniqi’s leadership, the PDK came second in the parliamentary elections on February 9, winning 24 seats in the 120-seat chamber, with Hamza as its candidate for prime minister. “It has been the greatest honour of my life to lead this party,” Krasniqi added.

A member of the PDK for nearly two decades, Krasniqi began his political career as the head of the party’s youth wing, later serving as deputy chairman before being elected leader in 2021.

The PDK was left without a chairman on November 5, 2020, when Kadri Veseli resigned from the leadership after the Kosovo Specialist Chambers confirmed his indictment for war crimes. Its former chairman for 17 years, Hashim Thaçi, is also in The Hague, on trial for war crimes.