Hashim Thaqi appointed Prime minister of the Kosovo province
The Kosovo Parliament on Wednesday appointed a new Kosovo government, led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaqi, who announced that new government would unilaterally declare Kosovo’s independence in a few weeks.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Thursday, January 10, 2008
The cabinet of prime minister designate Thaqi, former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader accused by Serbia of killings and terrorist attacks, won the votes of 85 out of the total 120 MPs.
The Kosovo government will comprise two parties that were once in fierce opposition - Thaqi's Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo, which had been run by Kosovo president Ibrahim Rugova until his death.
Thaqi's party holds seven ministerial posts in all the major sectors. The Democratic League of Kosovo has five ministers, while the parties representing ethnic minorities got three posts. Two Kosovo Serbs also entered the Kosovo government, despite winnin the support of just 0.75 percent of their compatriots in the November 17 elections.
The new government was formed after nearly two months of difficult negotiations. However, the joint venture between two most influential Albanian parties is widely expected to be an uneasy one, due to the bitter antagonism which marked their relations.
Rugova blamed Thaqi and his KLA of "collaboration with Serbian secret services". Thaqi prevented Rugova's return to Kosovo for several months following the deployment of NATO troops and UN mission in 1999, and led the brutal political battle, which resulted with at least a dozen politically motivated assassinations in late 2000.
Before the government was appointed, Kosovo got a new-old president as well - Democratic League of Kosovo leader Fatmir Sejdiu. However, he was not elected until the third round of voting, when the election required a simple majority of representatives. In the first two rounds, Sejdiu was unable to get two thirds of MPs' votes.
New Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaqi said that Kosovo would unilaterally announce its independence from Serbia already in the first half of February.
"We cannot drag feet with independence any longer," he said in an interview with Japan's Asahi Shimbun daily. "This will happen during four-five weeks. Our government seeks independence as a democratic sovereign state on the basis of full coordination of actions with the US and the EU. The US and the EU member-states will immediately recognize our independence. The number of such states is likely to be considerable," Thaqi said.
