Voting begins in Kosovo snap elections

Sun, 12 Dec 2010

Pristina, Kosovo - Voting began in Kosovo Sunday in the first parliamentary elections since the former Serbian province declared independence.

Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) has been tipped to win the most votes, but is expected to fall short of an outright majority.

Thaci lost a no-confidence vote in November, after his coalition with Pristina Mayor Isa Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) fell apart. That triggered the elections a year early.

The 1.6 million registered voters, the vast majority among them ethnic Albanians, can choose from 29 tickets between 7 am and 7 pm (0600 - 1800 GMT).

The Kosovo assembly has 120 seats - 100 are up for grabs by any candidate, 10 are reserved for Serbs and 10 for representatives of other minorities.

Belgrade refuses to accept Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence and has called its compatriots there to boycott the vote. But eight Serb parties still decided to run.

Amid Belgrade's call for the boycott and Kosovo's high potential for violence, the vote is being closely monitored by almost 850 international and 26,000 local observers.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/357743,voting-kosovo-snap-elections.html.