Kosovo government falls, elections on December 12

Tue, 02 Nov 2010

Pristina - Kosovo will hold early polls on December 12, the country's acting president said Tuesday, minutes after parliament backed a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's cabinet.

The motion was supported by 64 of the 120 legislators. It was submitted weeks after Thaci's coalition fell apart, plunging Kosovo - which is also without a president - into a political crisis.

Even representatives from Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) voted in favor of the no-confidence motion, saying they wanted to end the political impasse triggered by the PDK's junior partner, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

The acting head of state, parliamentary speaker Jakup Krasniqi, immediately dissolved the assembly and scheduled the early elections.

The alliance between the PDK and the LDK disintegrated on October 16 amid wrangling over the vacant post of president and the privatization of the telecommunications company PTK.

LDK leader Fatmir Sejdiu resigned as Kosovo's president on September 27, when the Constitutional Court said he had broken the law by doubling as head of state and party chief.

The PDK and LDK failed to agree on a replacement for Sejdiu, so early polls were called for February 13 - more than half-a-year before they are due.

Amid a row over the sale of PTK, the LDK then left the coalition three weeks ago and vacated all government posts it held, blocking the executive from functioning.

Kosovo, with its majority Albanian population, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after NATO ousted Belgrade's security forces from the former province.

It was recognized by the United States, most European Union countries and neighbors - in total, by 71 nations.

Opinion surveys in Europe's youngest country are still unreliable, but it is generally believed that only Thaci's PDK will profit from elections at such short notice.

Early elections are likely to delay the still unscheduled start of the first direct talks between Pristina and Belgrade since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/351555,falls-elections-december-12.html.