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| Thaci declares victory in Kosovo elections |
| 18 November 2007 | 11:04
| Source:
B92, Beta, Reuters, Tanjug |
PRIŠTINA --
Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) is leading with 35 percent of votes, NGOs in Priština say.
 | Hashim Thaci votes in Priština (FoNet)
|
After 60 percent of votes cast in yesterday's assembly and local elections have been counted, Democracy in Action NGOs say that the Democratic Alliance of Kosovo comes second with 22 percent.
The list continues with Alliance for New Kosovo (12 percent), Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and the Democratic Alliance of Dardania (10 percent each), while ORA has won four percent of the votes counted so far.
Only those parties that have five percent and more will enter the new assembly.
Sunday's vote was marked by an unexpectedly low turnout among the province's Albanians, at about 45 percent, and the boycott staged by local Serbs.
"This is not about independence. Turnout was low because people are depressed. This is about the economic situation - no water, no electricity, no jobs," Reuters quoted analyst Berat Buzhala of the daily Express.
Political analyst Agron Bajrami said low Albanian turnout suggested "people have grown tired over the past eight years with the lack of status or progress in their everyday lives".
"Most of the parties ... have not convinced voters they have a solution to a situation most people consider a crisis."
Thaci last night declared victory, saying he will be the prime minister of all Kosovo residents.
"These elections are not about Kosovo's status," he said.
"We will declare independence immediately after December 10."
But his party will not be able to form a government on its own.
Thaci, formerly of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), said the victory meant Kosovo was ready to join the big family of European nations, and commended his compatriots on their behavior during the campaign.
He also said that PDK candidate for the next mayor of Priština, Fatmir Limaj, had also won.
As for the Serbs, five of them cast their votes at eight alternative polling stations in northern Kosovo.
Observers in the municipality of Leposavić told Tanjug that two Serbs had voted there, while three Serbs voted in Zvečan.
None of the Serbs from northern Kosovska Mitrovica took part.
Except in Kosovska Mitrovica, in all the other places in the north OSCE opened mobile polling stations in trucks.
In other parts of the province, the percentage of Serbs who took part in the elections was slightly higher.
Elections in Kosovo went without major irregularities and incidents. Some 1.5 million people were eligible to vote.
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