Rugova still ahead in Kosovo race

By Vaiju Naravane

PARIS, NOV. 19. Kosovo's pacifist leader, Mr. Ibrahim Rugova, continues to be the front-runner in presidential elections held in the U.N.-controlled Yugoslav province on Saturday.

Exit polls credited Mr. Rugova's Democratic League for Kosovo party with 47 per cent of the vote. However, officials indicated he might not get an absolute majority in the 120-member Parliament and might have to rely on a coalition government to secure his presidency. The poll was supervised by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Official results are expected later in the day.

Mr. Rugova claimed victory on Sunday and immediately renewed calls for the total independence of the province of Kosovo, which, although under U.N. administration, continues to remain a part of Serbia, the dominant of the two provinces that make up Yugoslavia.

Mr. Rugova is expected to win far more votes than either of the two radical ethnic Albanian parties in the running. Both are led by former guerilla commanders who founded the UCK and the Kosovo Liberation Army. It was the UCK's guerilla activities and the Serbian repression that followed that resulted in a 78-day bombing campaign by U.S.-led NATO forces in 1999.

Many ethnic Albanians who make up 90 per cent of the population view this election as a first step towards total independence. But the Serbs, who live mainly in the northern city of Mitrovica and a few other cities, firmly oppose this, saying Kosovo was and will continue to be the cradle of Serbian civilisation. The voting rate in the town of Mitrovica which continues to be divided along ethnic lines was dismal, especially in the Serbian parts of the city.

The new Parliament is expected to meet in early December.

Mr. Rugova's renewed call for the independence of Kosovo was met by a cool response from European Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels. ``These elections were certainly not elections for an independent Kosovo'', the Austrian Foreign Minister, Mrs. Bettina Ferero-Waldner, told reporters.

Reuters reports:

``He (Mr. Rugova) knows very well the international community is against independence, but they maintain this idea...We have to sit down and really consider what could be a solution, but I am not in favour of independence as such,'' Mrs Ferero-Waldner said.

The Portuguese Foreign Minister, Mr. Jaime Gama, said the U.N. Security Council Resolution on Kosovo, which envisages wide autonomy for the territory but within the Yugoslav Federation, should remain the guide to dealing with the province.

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Section  : International
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