- Title: KOSOVO: Campaigning in early parliamentary elections kicks-off in Kosovo
- Date: 2nd December 2010
- Summary: PRISTINA, KOSOVO (DECEMBER 1, 2010) (REUTERS) LDK (DEMOCRATIC LEAGUE OF KOSOVO) SUPPORTERS CHEER AS THE HEAD OF THE PARTY, ISA MUSTAFA, ENTERS MUSTAFA IN CROWD PEOPLE WAVING PARTY FLAGS / BANNER READING "LDK IS NUMBER ONE"
- Embargoed: 17th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA8KASYMGE2M5NTT2EN29K7JS34
- Story Text: Campaigning began in Kosovo on Wednesday (December 1) just ten days ahead of the country's general election.
Kosovo's parliament was dissolved in early November and new elections set for December 12 after the government that led the country to independence from Serbia was brought down in a confidence vote.
According to the Kosovo Central Election Commission some 29 political groups have been certified to run for the latest elections and they are aiming for votes from some 1.6 million eligible voters.
Campaigning was in full swing on Wednesday with supporters of the Kosovo Democratic League (LDK) gathering in a sports centre in Pristina to welcome their newly elected leader.
"I am fully convinced and I promise you today that we have a right, we know and we can win these elections together," LDK president Isa Mustafa told his party supporters at the rally.
Kosovo entered political deadlock when President Fatmir Sejdiu resigned in September after a court ruled he could not simultaneously be a party leader and the head of state.
His Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) party, which had ruled in coalition since independence, quit the government, depriving it of a parliamentary majority.
The new election has led to many Kosovans hoping for change.
"So far we are not satisfied at all with the current government. I believe that if they stay in power we will not see any progress. I hope that the parties in government will lose and someone who deserves wins," said Hamdi Muqolli an economist from Pristina.
Kosovo, the youngest and one of the poorest countries in Europe, needs foreign investment to reduce an unemployment rate of more than 45 percent.
Experts say a new government could help to improve this.
"Well the elections may turn out to be of importance for Kosovo, it depends whether it will be a high turn out, there are new parties so it might be a change in the domestic politics in Kosovo," said the Council of Europe Parliementary Assembly Liaison Officer, Bjorn Von Sydow.
"We have facts that the corruption is not just for the ordinary men on the street but it also goes up in political and administrative system," said Sydow.
A number of new political parties have emerged in the run up to these elections.
Western educated Ilir Deda, from the "New Spirit" (FER) party, is one of the new faces in Kosovo's politics.
"It is a critical time for state building in Kosovo, and it is a time for a political transition to a new generation, the old political establishment - the old political generation they achieved independence but they do not have ideas and determination for internal development, right now or in the elections of December. Kosovo will be on the cross roads and that is where it will remain with the old politics and stagnate as a country or will we begin a transitional period and have a more dynamic and energic government," said Deda.
Corruption is one of the main issues to be dealt with in Kosovo.
Scandals broke this spring when police raided the offices of the transport and telecommunications ministry then in July Kosovo's central bank governor was arrested in a corruption investigation.
The election will likely delay the start of European Union-sponsored talks with Serbia on improving their poor relations and delay privatisation of state-owned companies in one of Europe's most impoverished countries.
Serbia does not recognise the independence of its former province where a minority of the population are Serbs, complicating daily life and the long-term path to the EU for both countries.
Pressure on both Serbia and Kosovo to mend their relationship grew after the International Court of Justice ruled that Kosovo's declaration of independence was legal.
Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999 after NATO carried out a bombing campaign to halt Belgrade's killing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in a two-year counter-insurgency war.
Ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population, declared independence in 2008 in a move that has been recognised by 71 countries including most EU members and the United States. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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