KOSOVO
Independence at stake in Kosovo election
Friday, November 16, 2007
Albanian Kosovars go to the polls Saturday for what they hope will be the first step towards independence of the UN-administered Serbian province. Belgrade is urging Serbian Kosovars to boycott.
Friday, November 16, 2007
By AFP
NATO bolstered troop numbers in Kosovo on Friday, a day ahead of parliamentary polls expected to elect a government that will lead the troubled Serbian province to independence.
A battalion of 530 German reinforcements was deployed over the past week and has been "made operational," said a spokesman of the 16,000-strong NATO-led KFOR troops in Kosovo, which has proved a powderkeg in the past.
Tensions were highest in Kosovo's Serb-populated north, where the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is worried that Serbs who are boycotting the vote might attempt to block polling stations.
UNMIK and elections watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), were "ready to deploy mobile polling stations in case voters in certain areas were refused access to public buildings to cast their votes," the UN mission said.
"KFOR will definitely be in the field in the neighbouring location to the voting stations and all conditions will be (in place so) that everybody can vote," KFOR commander Xavier Bout de Marnhac told a Pristina press conference.
"I would like to see a very good turnout tomorrow because this is crucial times," UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker said.
Coming less than a month before the end of internationally mediated talks on Kosovo's future status, the elections pit the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) against the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
But, according to the latest surveys, neither of the two main parties is expected to win an outright majority.
The PDK is headed by Hashim Thaci, former leader of the political wing of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which fought Serbian forces in the province's 1998-1999 war.
Officially still a Serbian territory, Kosovo has been managed by UNMIK since mid-1999 when NATO drove out forces loyal to late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic over a brutal crackdown on the KLA and its civilian supporters.
At stake in the elections are places in the 120-seat provincial assembly, 100 of them reserved for parties representing independence-seeking Albanians, who comprise at least 90 percent of Kosovo's two million population.
The rest of the posts are set aside for Serbs and other non-Albanian minorities such as Roma, Slavic Muslims and Turks.
Voters will also be asked to select mayors and local councillors.
The government in Belgrade -- which considers the province as the cradle of Serbian history, culture and religion -- has advised Kosovo Serbs who number little more than 100,000 to boycott the polls.
Moderate Kosovo Serbs are concerned that the boycott call, which the vast majority are expected to follow, will see the minority Serbs lose their grip on power even in municipalities where they form a majority.
Some 150 Council of Europe observers and 2,500 local monitors will watch for irregularities at the 2,350 polling booths across the province.
The UN mission called the polls ahead of the conclusion of the status talks by a December 10 deadline, in an apparent bid to secure a unity government to prevent any turmoil following independence.
"Immediately after December 10, we will take decisions to make Kosovo an independent and sovereign country," Thaci, the pre-election favourite to become prime minister, told AFP.
Many believe the biggest surprise could come from the New Kosovo Alliance, a party led by the richest man in the province, construction magnate Behgjet Pacolli.
Agim Ceku, who has filled the role of prime minister since his predecessor resigned under pressure almost two years ago, is not standing in the elections.
A battalion of 530 German reinforcements was deployed over the past week and has been "made operational," said a spokesman of the 16,000-strong NATO-led KFOR troops in Kosovo, which has proved a powderkeg in the past.
Tensions were highest in Kosovo's Serb-populated north, where the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is worried that Serbs who are boycotting the vote might attempt to block polling stations.
UNMIK and elections watchdog, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), were "ready to deploy mobile polling stations in case voters in certain areas were refused access to public buildings to cast their votes," the UN mission said.
"KFOR will definitely be in the field in the neighbouring location to the voting stations and all conditions will be (in place so) that everybody can vote," KFOR commander Xavier Bout de Marnhac told a Pristina press conference.
"I would like to see a very good turnout tomorrow because this is crucial times," UNMIK chief Joachim Ruecker said.
Coming less than a month before the end of internationally mediated talks on Kosovo's future status, the elections pit the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) against the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
But, according to the latest surveys, neither of the two main parties is expected to win an outright majority.
The PDK is headed by Hashim Thaci, former leader of the political wing of the separatist Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) which fought Serbian forces in the province's 1998-1999 war.
Officially still a Serbian territory, Kosovo has been managed by UNMIK since mid-1999 when NATO drove out forces loyal to late Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic over a brutal crackdown on the KLA and its civilian supporters.
At stake in the elections are places in the 120-seat provincial assembly, 100 of them reserved for parties representing independence-seeking Albanians, who comprise at least 90 percent of Kosovo's two million population.
The rest of the posts are set aside for Serbs and other non-Albanian minorities such as Roma, Slavic Muslims and Turks.
Voters will also be asked to select mayors and local councillors.
The government in Belgrade -- which considers the province as the cradle of Serbian history, culture and religion -- has advised Kosovo Serbs who number little more than 100,000 to boycott the polls.
Moderate Kosovo Serbs are concerned that the boycott call, which the vast majority are expected to follow, will see the minority Serbs lose their grip on power even in municipalities where they form a majority.
Some 150 Council of Europe observers and 2,500 local monitors will watch for irregularities at the 2,350 polling booths across the province.
The UN mission called the polls ahead of the conclusion of the status talks by a December 10 deadline, in an apparent bid to secure a unity government to prevent any turmoil following independence.
"Immediately after December 10, we will take decisions to make Kosovo an independent and sovereign country," Thaci, the pre-election favourite to become prime minister, told AFP.
Many believe the biggest surprise could come from the New Kosovo Alliance, a party led by the richest man in the province, construction magnate Behgjet Pacolli.
Agim Ceku, who has filled the role of prime minister since his predecessor resigned under pressure almost two years ago, is not standing in the elections.
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