KOSOVO: LDK CONVENTION GIVES SEJDIU NARROW VICORY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 001059

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR
DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2016
TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: LDK CONVENTION GIVES SEJDIU NARROW VICORY
OVER DACI, BUT EVENT MARRED BY VIOLENCE

Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: The ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK)
party elected Kosovo President Sejdiu as party president over
former Speaker Nexhat Daci in an orderly vote at a December 9
party convention. But when Sejdiu presented his list of
candidates for the party's powerful General Council, Daci and
his supporters rejected it, saying the deck had been stacked
against them. As tensions rose, Daci supporters plunged the
convention into chaos and violence, throwing chairs and
brandishing weapons. After the Kosovo Police Service (KPS)
restored order, Sejdiu compromised by expanding the Council
from 81 to 107 to include more Daci supporters and three
additional diaspora members. USOP issued a statement
December 10 congratulating Sejdiu and criticising the
malcontents who resorted to violence on the floor of the
congress. Sejdiu's victory is important, but the thin margin
of his win and the open factionalization within the LDK party
may have consequences for the governing coalition's support
in the Kosovo Assembly and lead to demands from opposition
leader Thaci for inclusion in the Kosovo government. END
SUMMARY.

Convention Begins Well...


2. (SBU) The December 9 convention of the ruling LDK party to
select the next party president began peacefully, with
delegates choosing President Fatmir Sejdiu over former
Speaker Nexhat Daci by a secret ballot of 189 to 160. While
the vote was closer than most had expected -- Sejdiu had
reportedly garnered more than 220 signatures of 355 delegates
in the pre-election campaign, but many Daci votes were likely
bought and paid for -- the result was accepted by Daci and
his supporters and the two were given thunderous applause by
all assembled delegates after they delivered their pre-vote
speeches. Those looking on included PM Ceku, Deputy SRSG
Schook, AAK leader Haradinaj, and main opposition leader
Thaci. USOP was represented by a POL/ECON officer and a POL
FSN.

But Losers Stoke Trouble


3. (SBU) Trouble began soon after, however, as Daci and his
supporters complained that Sejdiu had stacked the deck
against them on election of the powerful 81-member Steering
Council, an executive body which implements party policy and
selects the new party presidency. Delegates were allowed to
choose from a ballot of 104: 77 proposed by Sejdiu plus up
to 27 proposed by others (mainly Daci supporters). As a
steady steam of delegates, including those from the diaspora
who claimed under-representation, took the floor to vent,
tensions began to rise. Former LDK spokesman Lulzim Zeneli,
a Daci ally, announced that Daci was withdrawing his name,
whereupon many Daci supporters among the 27 additional
candidates did the same. Daci-supporting delegate and
well-known thug Gani Geci then threatened to "kill someone"
if the vote on the Council went forward; he proposed
postponing the vote for a week, which Sejdiu refused. At
this point, several more Geci brothers, a notorious
Drenica-based clan known for their violent methods, and
others came to the floor, yelling and confronting Sejdiu ally
Deputy PM Haziri, and the room erupted into chaos. Chairs
were thrown, guns were drawn, and Sejdiu and others were
pulled into a back room by security as someone sprayed pepper
spray into the melee.


4. (SBU) After almost an hour, the Kosovo Police Service
(KPS) restored enough order for the delegates to return to
their seats. Sejdiu then offered a compromise by expanding
the Council to 107, to include all the candidates proposed
plus three additional delegates from the diaspora. The
delegates swiftly approved this and the convention ended.
Police later arrested two delegates, reportedly including a
Geci brother.

Comment


PRISTINA 00001059 002 OF 002



5. (C) The donnybrook on the floor of the congress hall is
and should be profoundly embarassing for Kosovo. The fact
that it was instigated by well-known thugs does not detract
from the sad fact that, for Kosovo's supporters and
detractors, the TV images will define local politics for a
long time. However, Sejdiu's victory is a positive and
important development, as is the election of an LDK General
Council stacked mainly with Sejdiu supporters. The GC must
meet within a week or so to select the party presidency,
which -- if Sejdiu holds firm -- will also be composed of his
supporters. Sejdiu will officially "freeze" his party
president job once all this is in place, and hand over (so he
has told COM) to Prizren mayor and current LDK presidency
member Eqrem Kryeziu as his principal deputy. Kryeziu is a
solid player, very useful in mobilizing support for Sejdiu.


6. (C) However, the now open split within the party could
lead to a variety of consequences. Daci and his people have
been deliberating their options, only commenting publicly
that they remain adamant in their refusal to accept the
election of the LDK General Council. It is possible they
will form a new party altogether, though that seems unlikely
at least until they exhaust their options within the LDK and
attempt to pressure Sejdiu into making personnel concessions
for the sake of "party unity." More critically, Daci
probably controls up to a dozen or so LDK votes in the Kosovo
Assembly within the existing LDK caucus; he might use the
threat of bringing down the government to again pressure
Sejdiu for concessions. And finally, Hashim Thaci's
long-held desire to enter government now has greatly improved
prospects, despite general LDK distaste for him and his
party, simply because the numbers in the Assembly may force
Sejdiu to seek new votes to maintain his majority.


7. (C) All of this will play out in the next few weeks. In
the short-term, it is vital that we give Sejdiu full support
as the legitimate party leader. COM met with him publicly
December 10 and USOP issued a statement deploring the
violence and welcoming the new leadership. COM also met with
Thaci to reinforce U.S. equities, warning him that Daci
remains an unacceptable partner (a point Thaci clearly
understood) and underscoring that it would be an unwise time
for Thaci to pressure Sejdiu on a new government, both
because Sejdiu will need time to consolidate his hold on the
party and because a new government could hamper the
transition process from UNMIK to the PISG. Thaci was quite
willing to allow time for Sejdiu to do his LDK business, and
emphatically reaffirmed his commitment to the Unity Team, but
equally open in his desire to use the new political calculus
to force the ouster of Ramush Haradinaj's AAK from the
governing coalition and substitute his own PDK. Thaci
pledged to hold off on any action until things settled down,
but would not consent to give up his government aspirations
altogether. We will keep in close touch with him, as well as
Sejdiu and all the relevant players, over the next days and
weeks, and keep everyone focused on the immediate task at
hand: support for Sejdiu and backing for the new party
leadership.


8. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable in its
entirety for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
KAIDANOW