TonH
19-11-07, 10:40
Grand coalition likely in Kosovo after ballot
Guerrilla veteran Thaci wins vote marred by ‘alarmingly low turnout’
http://www.ekathimerini.com/kathnews/photos/19-11-07/19-11-07_90230_1.gif EPA
The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Hashim Thaci, drinks champagne after winning the vote yesterday.
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo was heading for a likely grand coalition yesterday to lead the province into a final showdown with Serbia on the ethnic Albanian majority’s demand for independence.
A senior official in Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party (PDK), which won Saturday’s parliamentary election, told Reuters a coalition with the second-placed Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was “most likely, since there’s no other option.”
The PDK and LDK have been rivals since Thaci’s guerrilla fighters eclipsed the LDK’s policy of passive resistance to Serb rule in the 1990s, under the guidance of the late independence leader, Ibrahim Rugova.
A second PDK source also said a PDK-LDK coalition was most likely, with the support of some smaller parties to secure a stable majority in the 120-seat parliament.
With 90 percent of polling stations counted, the Democracy in Action poll monitors said yesterday that Thaci’s PDK had come first with 34 percent, in a ballot marred by record low turnout and a Serb boycott to protest against the independence plans.
“With our victory today begins the new century,” Thaci told cheering supporters. “We showed that Kosovo is ready to move forward toward freedom and independence.” Thaci “crushes LDK,” read the front-page headline of the Kosovo daily Express. The LDK saw its support collapse to 22 percent from 45 percent in 2004.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called for the “rapid formation” of a new government. “We urge the democratically elected authorities to work constructively for a sustainable status settlement,” he said in a statement.
But in a sign that many voters see little difference in the main parties’ ability to tackle poverty and corruption beyond a declaration of statehood, only 45 percent of 1.5 million turned out to vote, the lowest showing since the war.
Council of Europe observers called it an “alarmingly low turnout, which sends a strong signal to political leaders.” It continued a downward trend since 2001, revealing “a profound dissatisfaction among the population.”
Dit is over een paar weken het 2e of 3e Europese land (afhankelijk van je definitie of Turkije wel of niet Europees is) dat een overwegend islamitische bevolking heeft.
Guerrilla veteran Thaci wins vote marred by ‘alarmingly low turnout’
http://www.ekathimerini.com/kathnews/photos/19-11-07/19-11-07_90230_1.gif EPA
The leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Hashim Thaci, drinks champagne after winning the vote yesterday.
PRISTINA (Reuters) – Kosovo was heading for a likely grand coalition yesterday to lead the province into a final showdown with Serbia on the ethnic Albanian majority’s demand for independence.
A senior official in Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party (PDK), which won Saturday’s parliamentary election, told Reuters a coalition with the second-placed Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) was “most likely, since there’s no other option.”
The PDK and LDK have been rivals since Thaci’s guerrilla fighters eclipsed the LDK’s policy of passive resistance to Serb rule in the 1990s, under the guidance of the late independence leader, Ibrahim Rugova.
A second PDK source also said a PDK-LDK coalition was most likely, with the support of some smaller parties to secure a stable majority in the 120-seat parliament.
With 90 percent of polling stations counted, the Democracy in Action poll monitors said yesterday that Thaci’s PDK had come first with 34 percent, in a ballot marred by record low turnout and a Serb boycott to protest against the independence plans.
“With our victory today begins the new century,” Thaci told cheering supporters. “We showed that Kosovo is ready to move forward toward freedom and independence.” Thaci “crushes LDK,” read the front-page headline of the Kosovo daily Express. The LDK saw its support collapse to 22 percent from 45 percent in 2004.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn called for the “rapid formation” of a new government. “We urge the democratically elected authorities to work constructively for a sustainable status settlement,” he said in a statement.
But in a sign that many voters see little difference in the main parties’ ability to tackle poverty and corruption beyond a declaration of statehood, only 45 percent of 1.5 million turned out to vote, the lowest showing since the war.
Council of Europe observers called it an “alarmingly low turnout, which sends a strong signal to political leaders.” It continued a downward trend since 2001, revealing “a profound dissatisfaction among the population.”
Dit is over een paar weken het 2e of 3e Europese land (afhankelijk van je definitie of Turkije wel of niet Europees is) dat een overwegend islamitische bevolking heeft.