By Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE, Nov 20 2007 (IPS)

Parliamentary elections in the breakaway Serbian province of Kosovo were broadly expected to be yet another confirmation that ethnic Albanians firmly and overwhelmingly support the idea of independence promised by their leaders.

However, the unexpectedly low turnout of 45 percent of 1.5 million voters Saturday is an indication that Kosovo Albanians are disillusioned. They want more than just independence – they want improved living conditions and economic development, according to analysts.

“Deep mistrust into so-called democratic institutions which brought nothing better to ethnic Albanians can be counted as the most important factor for the low turnout of voters,” Belgrade analyst, Dusan Janjic, told IPS. “There was no improvement in the past eight years in that direction,” he stressed.

This view is backed by statistics released by the United Nations Development Programme. In October, only 29 percent of survey respondents in Kosovo said they were satisfied with the work of the U.N. administration, and 28 percent with provisional institutions of self-governance.

The Southern Serbian province of Kosovo, populated by two million ethnic Albanians, has been under U.N. administration for eight years.

The U.N. took over in 1999, following 11 weeks of NATO bombing of Serbia due to Belgrade’s repression of ethnic Albanians.

A boycott by Serb voters further marred the Kosovo elections.

Out of 120,000 Serbs, only several hundred went to the polls. Others followed instructions from Belgrade that said any participation in the polls would mean disloyalty to Serbia and recognition of independent Kosovo.

In the months of fruitless talks with Pristina, Belgrade insists it is willing to provide only “broad autonomy” to Kosovo and does not agree to independence.

“This will have catastrophic consequences for Serbs in Kosovo,” said one of the most respected Serb leaders in the province, Oliver Ivanovic.

“It was a political demand from Belgrade, but those Serbs who remain in Kosovo will now have no local representatives to turn to,” Ivanovic said in a long interview with the prominent Radio B92.

Despite months of internationally sponsored negotiations with Belgrade, and promises by local politicians since 1999, independence has not arrived in Kosovo.

For ordinary voters, the need for independence seems to go without saying, but other issues are important as well.

It remains to be seen if the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK) candidate Hashim Thaci – expected to become the prime minister – will be able to deliver the promise of economic improvement.

According to the partial official results, the DPK got 34 percent of votes and will have to form a coalition government with the second strongest party – the Democratic League of Kosovo, which received 22 percent of votes – to secure a majority in the 120-member parliament.

The lowest turnout in any Kosovo elections so far suggests that, “people have grown tired with the lack of status or progress in their everyday lives over the past eight years,” political analyst, Agron Bajrami said. “The parties have not convinced voters they have a solution to a situation most people call crisis,” he added.

The economic situation in Kosovo, the least developed province of the former Yugoslavia, has not improved since 1999 – wreaking havoc in the lives of ordinary people. Long lasting water and electricity shortages have become a daily routine and jobs are scarce.

“This was not about independence [the low turnout]” the Pristina daily “Express” wrote on Monday. “Turnout was low because people are depressed. This is about the economic situation – no water, no electricity, no jobs,” it said. “Over the past three years nothing has changed for the benefit of people. Only certain people in government have gotten richer.”

There are widespread reports of corruption not only among local officials, but also among the international corps who were tasked with reconstructing the economy and leading the nation toward democracy.

“When corruption is the size of six digits it is local. When it grows to seven digits then the U.N. is involved,” claims Albin Kurti, leader of the youth movement “Vetëvendosje” (Self-Determination), in an interview by a Swedish journalist who investigated corruption in Kosovo for six months and recently published a series of articles in the “Dagens Nyheter” daily.

Kosovo is expected to proclaim its independence in the near future.

The 27-member European Union warned Kosovo’s leaders Monday to slow down the process in order to avoid any confrontations with the international community and Serbia.

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