Kosovars sceptical about poll

Kouchner, centre, shares a joke with Thaci, left, and Rugova, right, as they take part in a march against violence in Pristina

By Avni Zogiani*

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia -- All Kosovar Albanian parties agree that Kosovo should become independent, but voters fear that the final decision on Kosovo's sovereignty will be made by powers outside the province.

Kosovar Albanians feel that the local elections will not give them enough power to solve the issues of the day -- including the economy, security, law, and education -- and voter turnout is expected to be low.

The vote is unlikely to immediately change the way that Kosovo is run, as the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) will retain most of the province's administrative powers.

At a rally in the southwestern town of Peja a few days ago, Hashim Thaci, the former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK), accused Ibrahim Rugova -- the veteran political leader of the province and leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) -- of forgetting the true aspirations of the Kosovars. Rugova is Thaci's main political rival.

"Rugova has said he wants an independent Kosovo that would have friendly ties to both Serbia and Albania," Thaci said. "[But] he did not meet visiting Albanian President Rexhep Meidani last year, and did not meet Albanian Foreign Minister Paskal Milo this week. Yet, he says he is ready to meet Kostunica." The refusal to meet Albanian leaders -- coming from a kin country -- was a bad omen, Thaci implied, as was Rugova's "betrayal" of expressing willingness to meet a Yugoslav leader.

Rugova's moderate LDK seems to hold the firmest ground. It had a virtual monopoly on the Kosovar Albanian political scene for the past decade, until the emergence of the UCK. It has branches throughout Kosovo and experience in running political structures as a shadow government during the 1990s. Rugova has welcomed the shift toward more democratic rule in Belgrade, but he has not abandoned his desire for independence. The LDK has also gained a reputation as an elite of educated men who have a smoother approach than the more radical UCK leaders.

In general, many fear, however, that there are few politicians or parties capable of rising to the challenge that the change of regime in Belgrade has presented.

The majority of the estimated 100,000 Serbs left in Kosovo bitterly oppose any idea to turn Kosovo into an ethnic Albanian-dominated, independent republic.

Serbs still don't think that UNMIK police and NATO-led KFOR troops can ensure them proper protection from attacks by ethnic Albanians.

Most Serbs, although not voting, would prefer ethnic Albanians to support Rugova as he is seen as a more moderate leader than the UCK fighters-turned-politicians.

Supporters of Thaci's party climb a crane to get a better view at a rally in Glogovac, Kosovo

"Serbs were comfortable in Kosovo when Rugova's line was the dominant one," says Astrit Salihu, a philosopher and analyst from Pristina.

Kosovo's economy is barely surviving. The Trepca complex of 40 mines -- traditionally the mainstay of the region's economy -- is largely run-down. During the past decade, Kosovar Albanians were fired from their state jobs as Serbs took over. The entire economy was Serb-run and state-run. Most Kosovar Albanians survived on money sent from relatives abroad. Things have changed little.

Economists agree that the province needs a quick privatisation of the state-run economic enterprises and an influx of foreign capital. That has been stressed by the European Agency for the Reconstruction of Kosovo.

However, dilapidated facilities cannot be sold to investors because UNMIK is not empowered by the U.N. Security Council Resolution on Kosovo to sell the "property of Yugoslavia." What UNMIK can do is to appoint managers to the cash-strapped factories or plants. That happened recently in Trepca, when KFOR troops took over a smelting plant, saying it was a dangerous polluter.

Many Kosovars are frustrated with the perceived incompetence and blundering of the UNMIK administration. The body deals only with issuing basic rules, such as organising a rudimentary central bank in the form of the Kosovo Bank Authority, and setting regulations for detention of suspects and for collecting customs revenues. Indeed, UNMIK has not yet resolved how to create a legislative institution that could establish rules for the development of the economy and civil society.

Kosovars, both Serbian and Albanian, are distressed with the UNMIK administration for other reasons that affect their everyday lives. For instance, identification cards and travel cards -- which would enable Kosovars to travel outside the country -- have not yet been prepared, though UNMIK promised their delivery before the election.

Furthermore, an Organization for the Security and Cooperation in Europe report on the criminal justice system in Kosovo, published last week, observed bias against Serbs from the province's predominantly ethnic-Albanian judges.

Many Kosovar Albanians perceive UNMIK to be comprised of over-paid foreigners who work slowly and achieve little, charges UNMIK vigorously denies.

*Avni Zogiani is a staff writer with the leading Pristina Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore.

Kosovo wary of Kostunica
October 9, 2000
Yugoslavia appeals for international help
October 11, 2000

OSCE's Kosovo election guide

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.