President Ibrahim Rugova's pro-independence party looked set Sunday to keep its dominance in Kosovo after weekend elections which were marred by an ethnic Serb boycott.
Rugova claimed that his Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) had won more than 50 percent of votes in the UN-administered province's second general election since the 1998-99 war between ethnic Albanian separatists and Serbian forces.
"The LDK will continue to hold the position of the main political party in Kosovo after the elections. According to our reports the LDK won more than 50 percent and it will be the main party in the new parliament," he said. "We are in better position than after the previous elections in 2001."
Preliminary unofficial results however showed the LDK falling short of an overall majority, which would force it into another coalition with its uneasy partners in the outgoing government - the Democratic Party of Kosovo of former guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo of ex-rebel leader Ramush Haradinaj.