KOSOVO: PRESIDENT SEJDIU CONSOLIDATES HOLD OVER

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 001087 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: PRESIDENT SEJDIU CONSOLIDATES HOLD OVER RULING LDK PARTY Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In the wake of its raucous convention ten days earlier, the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) General Council met on December 19 and swiftly (and peacefully) elected its 25-member party presidency. The body is comprised of solid supporters of President Fatmir Sejdiu, including Prizren mayor Eqrem Kryeziu, who will oversee daily party operations as First Deputy President when Sejdiu steps down as party president, since Kosovo's constitutional framework prohibits him from holding the positions of party president and Kosovo president simultaneously. Nexhat Daci, who lost his bid to be party president to Sejdiu at the convention, boycotted the meeting, but -- in a sign that some who had deserted the Sejdiu camp may now be returning to the fold -- not all of his supporters stayed away. END SUMMARY. ¶2. (SBU) Ten days after its contentious convention, the ruling LDK closed ranks at its General Council meeting on December 19 and calmly approved President Sejdiu's chosen slate for the party's 23-member party presidency. Among these are the five new deputy presidents (in descending order): Prizren mayor Eqrem Kryeziu, Assembly Speaker Kole Berisha, LDK MP and former party secretary general Nekibe Kelmendi, Istok mayor Fadil Ferati, and Deputy Prime Minister Lutfi Haziri. Berisha's trusted political advisor, former Klina mayor Rame Manaj, was chosen as the party's secretary general. ¶3. (SBU) Ninety-four of the 107 General Council members participated in the session, and the vote in favor of the five deputy presidents was by a show of hands, a distinct and welcome change from the secret balloting that had taken place at the earlier convention. Nexhat Daci, Sejdiu's rival for party president, boycotted the meeting, as did most of his supporters. However, Viti mayor Musa Musini, Obiliq branch president Rexhep Kelani, and Minister of Public Services and LDK Women's Forum president Melihate Termkolli, erstwhile Daci supporters, disregarded the boycott and attended. The next step in the LDK process will involve Sejdiu stepping down as party president, since he cannot hold that post and the presidency of Kosovo at the same time. ¶4. (C) COMMENT: President Sejdiu held firm against the many voices calling for him to include Daci supporters in his party councils, which has proved to be a wise strategy. With his party organization now solidly stacked with loyalists, those who thought to follow Daci for the sake of their careers are now rethinking, and there are already clear indications of a return to the fold by potential rebels. We have likely not seen or heard the last of Daci, who is rumored to be contemplating forming his own party, though no concrete sign of that has yet emerged. Actually forming a separate party and taking Assembly caucus members with him would clarify whether Daci in fact enjoys any significant support and whether Sejdiu's governing coalition is in any real danger; if, on the other hand, Daci elects to remain within the LDK, these calculations will remain murky. ¶5. (C) We continue to see signs that opposition leader Hashim Thaci, prompted by his own ambitions and by tacit backing from some international actors, is looking to exploit the uncertainty posed by the Sejdiu-Daci confrontation by proposing a "unity government" composed of the LDK and his PDK party, driving out his rival Ramush Haradinaj's AAK from the coalition. Thaci is unlikely in the extreme to succeed in any bid to engineer a vote of no-confidence; Assembly rules provide that a no-confidence motion can only pass if a concurrent motion to form a new government -- with a PM-designate pre-approved by the President -- is also passed. The latter is almost inconceivable, but any sign that the governing coalition has less than 61 votes to muster in the 120-seat Assembly will put additional pressure on Sejdiu to consider a reformation of the government. We continue to convey to Thaci strongly that any ill-advised move in that direction could endanger the Unity Team, and thus will not/not be supported by the U.S. government. End Comment. PRISTINA 00001087 002 OF 002 ¶6. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable in its entirety for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. KAIDANOW