KOSOVO Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s left-wing party has been forced to look for an ally to form the next government, after it was left without a majority in the weekend parliamentary election — despite it winning most seats. 

With most votes counted, Mr Kurti’s Self-Determination Movement Party (Vetevendosje!) had won 41.3 per cent, according to the Central Election Commission.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), whose main leaders are detained at a Netherlands-based international criminal tribunal in The Hague and accused of war crimes, won 21.8 per cent of the vote.

Next, with 17.8 per cent support is the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) — the oldest party in the country. 

The LDK lost much of its support after the death of its leader in 2006, Ibrahim Rugova.

The Alliance for Kosovo’s Future of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj garnered 7.7 per cent of the votes.

The vote on Sunday was key in determining who will lead Kosovo as talks on normalising ties with rival Serbia remain stalled and foreign funding for one of Europe’s poorest countries is in question.

It was the ninth parliamentary vote in Kosovo since the end of the 1998-9 war between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists that pushed Serbian forces out following a 78-day Nato air campaign.

Mr Kurti will need to find a coalition partner to form a government.

He said: “The people won. Vetevendosje! won. We are the winners who will form the next Cabinet.”

Mr Kurti's new term will face multiple challenges after Washington recently froze foreign aid and the European Union suspended funding for some projects almost two years ago.