Thursday, December 9, 2010

Kosovo Pre-Election

Kosovo has been busy gearing up for the 12 December elections but not all has been going smoothly.  A Bosniak member of the Central Election Committee (CEC) was assassinated in his vehicle in the northern town of Leposavic.  Additionally, it has been reported that several parties have breached the election campaign rules in Kosovo.  Most of the breaches are in reference to involving children in the campaign process by either bringing children into political appearances or blocking regular school hours for campaigning.  It also has been reported that 60,000 Euros have been spent by the political parties for campaigning with more than half of the amount being spent by Haschim Thaci's PDK party.

The EU-ICO representative, Peter Feith, has announced that the elections will be "heavily monitored" by EU, international, and local NGOs.  France 24 news painted a rather pessimistic and grim outlook for Kosovo post elections but one could hold more hope than their guest expert that the elections will bring needed change and hope for the future.