Opposition parties won the night in Kosovo's election on Sunday, taking the lead over former guerrillas who have dominated politics for the past decade.

The leftist-nationalist Vetevendosje was in first place with 26 percent of the vote, followed by the center-right LDK who had 25.2 percent after more than three quarters of the ballots were counted, the electoral commission said.

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The victory of the two opposition parties was a heavy rebuke to parties led by former guerrillas who battled Serbia in the 1990s, paving the way for Kosovo's independence.

"We did not win. We accept the verdict of the people and the PDK moves to the opposition," said Kadri Veseli, leader of the PDK party that has been in power since 2007 and is linked to President Hashim Thaci.

With no camp taking an absolute majority, the opposition parties will need to unite to seal the PDK's place in the opposition.

While Vetevendosje and LDK have little overlap ideologically, they have already discussed the possibility of joining forces.

The party with the most votes will be tasked with forming the new government.

If the trend continues, it could be Vetevendosje's leader Albin Kurti, a 44-year-old who first gained fame as a student activist protesting Serbian repression in the 1990s before the war.

He has since become a strident critic of Kosovo's political elite, and his place at the helm would herald a new era for the young democracy.

Kosovo is a southern province of Serbia, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008.

(With input from AFP)

(Cover: Supporters of the Vetevendosje party celebrate in Pristina, Kosovo, October 6, 2019. /Reuters Photo)