Several month period farce with voters

Kosovska Mitrovica, July 15 - On behalf of the so-called international community, UNMIK and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), stated that the millionth resident was registered on vote today, on the last day of the voter registration of Kosovo and Metohija residents for the alleged fall elections.

That "honour" was "unexpectedly" bestowed on a resident of Pristina, an invalid, who was given a symbolic recognition by UNMIK chief Bernard Kouchner before the gathered citizens and numerous ethnic Albanian journalists and cameras.

This way, several month period OSCE farce regarding the registration of potential voters has ended. The number of a million registered voters was procured in the eleventh hour, at least on the paper. In reality, no one can check the identity of the registered citizens, their country of origin or if they satisfy the requirements to be registered as voters.

From late April when Kouchner's farce regarding the voter registration has started, till mid June, OSCE reports on this action were poor and showed disastrously low turnout of ethnic Albanian population.

Serbs, Romanies, Turks, Goranies and other non-Albanian communities committed themselves for the boycott of the voter registration until all the expelled persons, the majority of which are Serbs, are allowed to return to Kosovo.

The number of a half of a million of registered voters was a "stick" in UNMIK's and OSCE's throats for long, which they could not swallow in any way. That is why skillful marketing steps were taken, new campaign launched and OSCE engagement created, all aimed at animating the ethnic Albanian population and attracting minority communities.

UNMIK and OSCE remembered that Romanians, Egyptians, Turks and Goranies also live in Kosovo and Metohija, found two to three representatives among them, wheedled them with money and nice promises in order to make the members of their communities register to vote.

One of the representatives of these minority communities admitted to Tanjug news agency journalist that they were offered 2,000 DM "for collaboration", a good car or a landrover with diplomatic plates, personal protection, that is bodyguards, decent lodging and other privileges. A Serb with the same experience confirmed this.

Their duty was to promote vote registration among their compatriots and submit lists with names of allegedly registered persons to OSCE.

Subtler were the attempts by different voting register takers and humanitarian organizations to force the lists of apartment owners in bigger or residents in smaller places. They explained they needed it for the list of humanitarian aid users or for the purpose of estimating the electricity or water consumption.

According to the official OSCE data, 650,000 persons have been registered in Kosovo and Metohija until two weeks ago. This number suddenly went up to 800,000. On Thursday, only two days before the expiration of the deadline, the number included 900,000 persons. The millionth resident was "unexpectedly" registered to vote today.

This was done as with a magic wand, but was helped above all by the International Organization for Migrations through which OSCE has computer records on Albanian workers abroad and emigrants all over Europe and for whom they created special addresses, phone numbers, even the web site on the Internet - where to report to.

The pressure exerted on Serbs to register to vote became extremely strong over the last two weeks. That is why Dan Everts, chief of the OSCE office in Pristina, started the meeting in Leposavic on July 7, attended by the representatives of Serbian parties from Kosovo and Metohija, with a system of blackmailing and threats to drive a wedge in up-to-then unity of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija.