KOSOVO: Pro-independence leader Mr Ibrahim Rugova claimed yesterday that his party had easily won Kosovo's general elections, in voting marred by a mass boycott from the beleaguered Serb community in the mostly Albanian province, writes Daniel McLaughlin in Budapest.
Mr Rugova said his Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) had won more than 50 per cent of votes in Saturday's election, but preliminary results suggested he would have to form a coalition with two other Albanian parties led by former guerrilla leaders.
"The LDK will continue to hold the position of the main political party in Kosovo after the elections. According to our reports, the LDK won more than 50 per cent and it will be the main party in the new parliament," Mr Rugova said.
He immediately restated his demand for independence for Kosovo, which has been run by the United Nations and NATO since 1999, after 78 days of bombing by the military alliance ended a Serb crackdown against separatist ethnic Albanians and forced President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces.
Mr Rugova said the elections, which passed off peacefully under the gaze of some 19,000 NATO peacekeepers, once more "demonstrated that Kosovo can run itself, and it is time for recognition of independence".
"I insist that Kosovo's independence be recognised and then standards will be easily fulfilled," he said, objecting to the UN's demand that the region first fulfil certain criteria before a decision on its final status is made, in mid-2005 at the earliest.
About 54 per cent of Kosovo's 1.4 million registered voters went to the polls, but only 1 per cent of the 100,000 resident Serbs heeded calls to come to the ballot box from the international community and moderate Serbs like President Boris Tadic.
Serbia's nationalist Prime Minister, Mr Vojislav Kostunica, and the influential Serbian Orthodox Church condemned the election, citing security fears and the suspicion that it is a stepping stone to eventual independence from Belgrade.
"The elections have been a failure from the point of view of the maintenance of the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo," Mr Kostunica said in a statement.
"By not voting, Serbs have sent a unanimous message that their living conditions are intolerable," he said.
"To vote for political representatives, people must first enjoy elementary rights."
Under UN control, the Serb population in Kosovo has dwindled to just a third of its pre-war dimensions, and they complain of a lack of protection from Albanian radicals, rampant unemployment and dismal living conditions in their isolated communities.
NATO reinforced its KFOR peacekeeping contingent ahead of the elections, fearing a repeat of vicious riots in March that left 19 people dead, thousands of Serbs homeless and several medieval Serbian Orthodox churches in ruins.
The UN's chief administrator in Kosovo, Mr Soren Jessen-Petersen, admitted that Serb disaffection could not be ignored in the search for a peaceful future for Kosovo.
"It is important now to get the political parties together, the majorities with the minorities, in a constructive dialogue," Mr Jessen-Petersen said. "We don't have a lot of time if we want to move Kosovo forward."