Kosovo lawmakers fail to elect government, snap polls likely

After months of political wrangling, Kosovo's caretaker prime minister Albin Kurti failed to form a government on Wednesday, pushing the tiny Balkan nation towards its second election in under a year.

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With fresh elections expected to be announced, Kurti's party will hope to improve on its result from February's vote, when it fell short of a majority despite topping the poll.

The 50-year-old left-wing leader -- whose political roots lie in Kosovo's independence movement during the war-ravaged 1990s -- has plenty of campaigning experience and a formidable popularity with voters to guide them there.

But after months of bruising parliamentary stasis, the pathway back to government remains unclear for the man who, when in opposition, teargassed the legislature and was once dubbed "Kosovo's Che Guevara."