International   

Kosovo leader threatens to declare independence

PRISTINA (Serbia): Former guerilla commander Hashim Thaci and his Democratic Party of Kosovo have won a parliamentary election, making him favourite for the post of Prime Minister in the breakaway province.

However, Mr. Thaci will be forced to seek a deal with a rival party after failing to win a clear majority, officials said on Sunday.

Independent observers said unofficial vote tallies from Saturday’s parliamentary elections gave Mr. Thaci’s party the lead with 34 per cent of the vote. The League of Democratic Kosovo, or LDK — traditionally the province’s largest political bloc — trailed with 22 per cent.

A senior official in Mr. Thaci’s party said a coalition with the late President Ibrahim Rugova’s LDK was the most likely outcome — although an uneasy one because of a rivalry between the two parties. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the issue.

Mr. Thaci, once a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army that fought Serbia in the 1998-99 war, often clashed with Rugova, a pacifist. Rugova’s death in early 2006, however, split the LDK and weakened its performance in the elections.

Official preliminary results were not expected until late Monday, but the observers’ tally showed voters strongly supported Mr. Thaci, who has pledged to deliver swift independence from Serbia. He declared victory shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Mr. Thaci (39), said that if he becomes Prime Minister, Kosovo’s leadership will declare independence from Serbia after December 10 — the deadline for international mediators to report back to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on efforts to resolve the dispute over Kosovo’s future status.

“Immediately after December 10, Kosovo’s institutions will declare the independence of Kosovo,” Mr. Thaci said. Decisions on Kosovo’s status are made through a forum of ethnic Albanian leaders, who include the province’s Prime Minister as well as opposition politicians.

However, any declaration of independence has to be formally endorsed by the province’s Parliament.

Serbia has warned that unilateral moves that curb its formal sovereignty over the province — such as declaring independence — would endanger the region’s stability. — Agencies

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Budget vote worries Rajapaksa regime
Kosovo leader threatens to declare independence
China backs ASEAN on Myanmar
“Attack on Iran will double oil prices”
Barred television channels hopeful of solution
Jemima leads protest against Musharraf
80 killed in Shia-Sunni clashes
Lashes for rape victim
Thomas Bata honoured

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu