PM’s party leads in Kosovo poll

Kosovo voted yesterday for the first time since its 2008 unilateral declaration of independence, with exit polls showing the party of Prime Minister Hashim Thaci remaining the largest in Parliament.

Minority Serbs in the north of the Albanian-majority territory largely boycotted the poll, as urged to by Serbia, with tensions leading authorities to close voting stations in the area three hours earlier than scheduled.

Voting however passed off without incident although the electoral commission said the overall turn-out was only 47.8 per cent.

An exit poll by a nongovernment organisation and a top political analyst put Mr Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) ahead in the vote with 31 per cent of seats in the Parliament.

His main rival, the Democratic League of Kosovo, was in second place with 25 per cent of the 120 seats, according to the poll by the Gani Bobi NGO and analyst Shkelzen Maliqi.

In third with 16 per cent was newcomer the Self-determination Party led by activist-turned-politician Albin Kurti, said the poll of more than 2,200 eligible voters.

More than 1.6 million people were registered to vote, many of them disillusioned about their status as among the poorest of Europe’s citizens and disappointed with the current leadership.

Mr Thaci’s reputation has also been hurt by a string of corruption scandals involving party officials.

Police reported threats to minority Serb voters in the northern town of Zubin Potok where shots were fired late Saturday into an empty building that is used by Nato-led peacekeepers.

The unidentified gunmen left behind a letter warning Serbs to stay away from the polls, police spokesman Besim Hoti said.

Serbia, which views the territory as its southern province and does not recognised its independence, had also urged Kosovo’s 120,000-strong Serb minority not to vote.

Serbs in North Kosovo maintained a virtual total boycott with only small pockets of Albanians and Bosnian Muslims living in the area casting their ballots.

However Serbs in enclaves in central Kosovo, accounting for two-thirds of the Serb population, were reported to have turned out in unprecedented numbers, including up to 50 per cent in some Serb towns.

The vote went off without a hitch, electoral commission chairman Valdete Daka said after polls had closed.

However, “due to a tense situation (in the north), the polling stations decided to end their work at 4 p.m. There were no incidents,” Ms Daka said.

More than 10 years after the war between the independence-seeking Albanian majority and forces loyal to then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, Kosovo remains one of the poorest regions in Europe with nearly half the population living below the poverty line.

Mr Thaci’s campaign presented him as the only true Kosovo statesman who could solve the territory’s problems, striking a cord with voters.