Content_paragraphs:  On 2 February, the Central Election Commission certified 1,052 candidates (697 
  
  men and 355 women), representing 28 political entities, to compete for the 120 
  
  legislative seats. All major Kosovo Albanian parties chose to compete individually 
  
  rather than in pre-election coalitions, while the Kosovo Serb community was 
  
  represented by the Serbian List party and two other civic initiatives. The candidate 
  
  certification process witnessed the non-certification of candidates with recent 
  
  criminal convictions. After a review and appeals process involving, at different 
  
  stages, the Central Election Commission, the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, 
  
  and the Supreme Court of Kosovo, 27 candidates from five political entities were 
  
  barred from contesting the election. They included the leader of Vetёvendosje, Albin 
  
  Kurti, who was convicted by a final judgment in September 2018 of a charge related 
  
  to the release of tear gas into the chamber of the Assembly of Kosovo in 2015. 
  
  Vetёvendosje and Ms. Osmani, whose newly established civic initiative ran on a joint 
  
  ticket with Vetëvendosje, protested the decision. Regardless of his non-certification 
  
  as a candidate, Mr. Kurti was put forward as his party’s nominee for Prime Minister.