Kosovo's two leading political parties on Saturday reached an
agreement on forming a coalition that will rule the
independence-seeking Serbian province, said reports reaching
Belgrade from Kosovo.
"An agreement has been reached, the only thing left to do is to
sign it," said Hajredin Kuqi, vice president of the Democratic
Party of Kosovo (PDK), which won Kosovo's parliamentary elections
on Nov. 17.
Kuqi made the comment to local media after a meeting of the
leaders of the two parties -- Prime Minister-elect Hashim Thaci of
the PDK and Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu of the Democratic League
of Kosovo (LDK).
Under the agreement, the PDK will appoint a prime minister and
run seven ministries, while the LDK will appoint a president of
Kosovo, a deputy prime minister and five ministers. Three
ministries will be allotted to the ethnic minorities.
Thaci said the Kosovo parliament would elect a speaker and a new
government at a session due to take place on Jan. 9.
The new Kosovo parliament was constituted in the provincial
capital Pristina on Friday, while the election of the parliament
speaker and the new government was postponed to next week.
Kosovo has been run by the U.N. mission since 1999 when NATO
bombing forced the pullout of Serbian forces fighting against
insurgent ethnic Albanians who are in the majority in the southern
Serbian province.
Following failed talks between Belgrade and Pristina on the
future status of the province, Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders
have pledged they would unilaterally proclaim independence in early
2008, but no move is likely to take place before presidential
elections in Serbia set for Jan. 20.
Kosovo's proclamation of independence is likely to be recognized
by the United States and a number of European countries, but Serbia
and its ally Russia said they would oppose any such move.
(Xinhua News Agency January 6, 2008)
