Ex-guerilla claims Kosovo vote victory as independence looms
Monday, 19 November 2007
PRISTINA, Serbia, Nov 18 (AFP): Former Kosovo guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci, whose party favours speedy independence, claimed victory Sunday after crucial parliamentary elections in the disputed Serbian province.
"I thank all of those who helped our victory and the victory of Kosovo," Thaci told a celebration of his Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which an unofficial tally showed had won 35 percent of Saturday's vote.
"The citizens of Kosovo sent the world a message that we are a democratic country ready to join the European family. The strongest message was that Kosovo is ready (for) independence," he told thousands of cheering supporters.
"My government will be the address for solving all the problems of this society. I begin my mission from tonight," said the 39-year-old former leader of the political wing of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
"I promise that I will be a prime minister for all citizens and that I will work for the benefit of all citizens of Kosovo."
Results compiled by independent poll observers Democracy In Action had earlier showed the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of President Fatmir Sejdiu trailed the PDK with 23 percent of the vote.
The group, a coalition of 10 non-governmental organisations involved in the official count, said the margin of error was one percent after 70 percent of ballots were counted.
Kosovo's parliamentary elections were held less than a month before the conclusion of internationally mediated talks to determine a new status for the disputed province.
A new round of the so-far deadlocked negotiations between leaders of Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian population and Serbia is to be held in Brussels in three days. They must be completed by December 10.
"Immediately after December 10, we will take decisions to make Kosovo an independent and sovereign country," Thaci told AFP ahead of the polls, also called to elect mayors and local councillors.
While likely to be short of an outright majority, Thaci is tipped to head a broad coalition government.
Hailing from Drenica, a central hotbed of separatism, Thaci became a student activist during the years of passive resistance to Belgrade's rule in the 1990s.
Thaci walked away from the pacifist approach of late president Ibrahim Rugova and joined the KLA. At the end of the war, he helped to establish the PDK and has since sought to reshape his image as a more moderate leader.
"I thank all of those who helped our victory and the victory of Kosovo," Thaci told a celebration of his Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which an unofficial tally showed had won 35 percent of Saturday's vote.
"The citizens of Kosovo sent the world a message that we are a democratic country ready to join the European family. The strongest message was that Kosovo is ready (for) independence," he told thousands of cheering supporters.
"My government will be the address for solving all the problems of this society. I begin my mission from tonight," said the 39-year-old former leader of the political wing of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
"I promise that I will be a prime minister for all citizens and that I will work for the benefit of all citizens of Kosovo."
Results compiled by independent poll observers Democracy In Action had earlier showed the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of President Fatmir Sejdiu trailed the PDK with 23 percent of the vote.
The group, a coalition of 10 non-governmental organisations involved in the official count, said the margin of error was one percent after 70 percent of ballots were counted.
Kosovo's parliamentary elections were held less than a month before the conclusion of internationally mediated talks to determine a new status for the disputed province.
A new round of the so-far deadlocked negotiations between leaders of Kosovo's 90-percent Albanian population and Serbia is to be held in Brussels in three days. They must be completed by December 10.
"Immediately after December 10, we will take decisions to make Kosovo an independent and sovereign country," Thaci told AFP ahead of the polls, also called to elect mayors and local councillors.
While likely to be short of an outright majority, Thaci is tipped to head a broad coalition government.
Hailing from Drenica, a central hotbed of separatism, Thaci became a student activist during the years of passive resistance to Belgrade's rule in the 1990s.
Thaci walked away from the pacifist approach of late president Ibrahim Rugova and joined the KLA. At the end of the war, he helped to establish the PDK and has since sought to reshape his image as a more moderate leader.