Ethnic Albanian leader claims Kosovo election victory

Dozens of ethnic Albanians wait in front of a Pristina polling station Keystone

Ethnic Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova has claimed victory in Kosovo's election which the Swiss development agency helped ensure ran smoothly.

Although official results were only due to be announced on Monday, the nationalist leader said it was clear his Democratic League of Kosovo party had won a mandate which would allow it to govern effectively for the three-year term of the legislature.

“We take this opportunity once again to call for the formal recognition of the independence of Kosovo as soon as possible,” Rugova said.

Kosovo legally remains part of Yugoslavia, but this is the first election since the United Nations began administering the province two years ago.

Exit polls gave Rugova, over 58 per cent of the vote, well ahead of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.

Ethnic Albanian turnout to elect a new national assembly was high with queues snaking around polling stations.

Overall participation in the poll, which is organised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE was estimated to be around 63 per cent by mid-afternoon on Saturday. The organisation said minority participation, including Serbs, was around 46 per cent.

The electorate consists of 1.2 million people in and outside Kosovo.

Monitoring the vote

The head of the Swiss Liaison Office in Pristina, Peter Sutter, said there were about 20 Swiss experts working for the OSCE. “They operated as democratisation officers or election officers.”

“In terms of money, Switzerland has contributed more than SFr1 million towards these elections,” Sutter added.

The province’s top UN and alliance officials hailed the violence-free general election.

Serb ballots

The OSCE encountered difficulties in preparing the elections within Serbia and northern Kosovo.

“It was only a few days ago that Belgrade gave the green light for the participation of Kosovo’s Serbs,” Sutter said.

“The Belgrade authorities hadn’t been very much in favour of participating before”, Sutter explained. “I doubt that the leaders were able to convince the electorate to participate.”

Sutter noted that a 30 per cent Serb participation within Kosovo would constitute a remarkable success.

Profound divisions

Although two and a half years have gone by since the end of the war, Kosovo is still profoundly divided, with ethnic Albanians and Serbs living separately.

Ethnic Albanians, unlike Serbs, favour independence from Serbia. They do not believe that this weekend’s election will give them sufficient autonomy.

However, the situation is evolving in a positive way, with ethnic violence and crime down by 40 per cent compared with last year.

swissinfo