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Kosovo Holds First Parliamentary Election

   VOA News 12 December 2010
   A  Kosovo  couple  prepare  to  vote  at  a polling station in general
   elections in Kosovo's capital Pristina, 12 Dec 2010

Photo: AP

   A  Kosovo  couple  prepare  to  vote  at  a polling station in general
   elections in Kosovo's capital Pristina, 12 Dec 2010

   Polls   opened   Sunday   in   Kosovo,  which  is  holding  its  first
   parliamentary  elections  since  declaring  independence  from  Serbia
   nearly three years ago.
   Pre-election surveys indicate that current Prime Minister Hashim Thaci
   and  his  Democratic  Party  of Kosovo are likely to narrowly lead the
   voting over their former coalition partner, Pristina Mayor Isa Mustafa
   and his Democratic League of Kosovo.
   But  neither  party  is expected to win a majority of the 120 seats in
   the  Balkan  nation's parliament. The winner then would have to seek a
   governing  partner  from among the 29 political parties contesting the
   election.
   About  1.6 million voters are eligible to participate in the election.
   But  the turnout may be quite a bit smaller, one byproduct of Kosovo's
   split with Serbia.
   Ethnic  Serbs  are  guaranteed  10 seats in the Kosovo parliament. But
   Serbia  still  considers  Kosovo part of its country and has urged the
   120,000 ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo to boycott the election.
   Thaci was forced to call a snap election after his governing coalition
   collapsed in early November, after a no-confidence vote in parliament.
   Ethnic  Albanians  comprise  the  vast  majority  of the population of
   Kosovo.  It  is one of Europe's poorest countries with an unemployment
   rate  of  more  than  40  percent.  It also has one of the continent's
   youngest populations.
   Some  voters say they have been attracted to Mustafa's candidacy as an
   alternative  to  Thaci's government, as well as to protest against the
   country's  economic woes and the corruption they believe has increased
   while Thaci has been in power.
   Many  in Kosovo hope that the country might eventually be accepted for
   membership  in  the  27-nation  European Union. In one of his campaign
   planks,  Thaci  has  supported  negotiating  a  deal  to  allow Kosovo
   citizens to travel freely to the EU without a visa.
   The  EU,  however, may be reluctant to add an impoverished nation at a
   time  when some of its member nations are already struggling to combat
   their  own  financial  problems.  Five  of  the  EU  nations refuse to
   recognize  Kosovo's  independence, although about 70 other nations do,
   including the United States and Japan.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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