On this day in 2001, Kosovars participated in their first election since the war ended in 1999. A peaceful occurrence, likewise, saw the peace-loving and soft-spoken Ibrahim Rugova win the support of the people. With 65-70% of Albanians turning up to vote, and an additional 15,000 ballots received from the diaspora, the polling results were overwhelmingly indicative of the sentiments on the ground. According to the Centre for the Defence of Human Rights and Freedom, the results showed that LDK’s Ibrahim Rugova, was the clear favourite obtaining 47% of the popular vote; his opponents, PDK’s Hashim Thaçi won 26% of the vote, AAK’s Ramush Haradinaj obtained 9%, and the Serbian party got 8%. It is important to highlight that Rugova was no stranger to winning elections; becoming the founding President of LDK on December 23rd, 1989, he was also the man to: declare independence on July 2nd , 1990, approve the constitution on September 7th, 1990, and be elected President by Albanians in 1992, 1998, 2001, and 2002. 

As emphasized by international actors on the day, this particular election was paramount for Kosova’s political future. The election itself went swimmingly. Praising the professionalism of the day, Daan Everts, head of the European Officials overseeing the vote, exclaimed: “today, democracy won.” This praise would prove important, as it would initiate the first democratic step in Kosova obtaining its independence from international overseers (the United Nations) that year, and eventually, its official internationally recognized Independence Day of February 17th, 2008.