Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06PRISTINA449
2006-05-24 16:18:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Pristina
Cable title:  

KOSOVO: CHANGES IN HARADINAJ'S POLITICAL PARTY

Tags:  PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI 
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DE RUEHPS #0449/01 1441618
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241618Z MAY 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6148
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0696
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000449 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: CHANGES IN HARADINAJ'S POLITICAL PARTY


PRISTINA 00000449 001.2 OF 002


Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000449

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: CHANGES IN HARADINAJ'S POLITICAL PARTY


PRISTINA 00000449 001.2 OF 002


Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly.


1. (SBU) SUMMARY. Ramush Haradinaj was handily re-elected
president of the party he founded, the Alliance for the
Future of Kosovo (AAK),during the party's May 20 convention.
Other prominent AAK members lost votes as compared with
their standing at the party's last convention in 2004, namely
Minister of Energy Ceku, Minister of Trade Dugolli, and
former Prime Minister Kosumi. The AAK is Kosovo's third
largest political party, but its influence exceeds its size
because of its position in the governing coalition. END
SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) is
relatively small, but its Kosovo political footprint spreads
far and deep. Created in 2000 by former Kosovo Liberation
Army (KLA) Regional Commander Ramush Haradinaj, the AAK owes
its position as junior member of the governing Democratic
League of Kosovo (LDK)-AAK coalition to Haradinaj's personal
charisma. The AAK holds only nine seats in Kosovo's
Assembly, one mayorship in Decan/i municipality, and received
only 7.8 percent of the vote in the 2004 general election,
but has gained practical political authority since 2004 by
forming a government with the LDK and through that coalition
securing the post of prime minister. The party is driven by
the force of personality of its leader Haradinaj, whose March
2005 indictment by the International Criminal Tribunal for
the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and subsequent resignation as
prime minister only increased AAK's public popularity among
the ethnic Albanian majority. Members of the AAK not only
hold Kosovo's premiership but also five of 14 ministerial
posts (ethnic minorities get three set-aside ministries for
their leadership).


3. (SBU) At the party's fourth convention on May 20, some
prominent AAK leaders -- including Minister of Trade Bujar
Dugolli, Minister of Energy Et'hem Ceku and former Prime
Minister Bajram Kosumi -- lost votes versus their totals from
the 2004 convention. Internal elections among convention
delegates for a 27-member party presidency were conducted
with open lists by secret ballot with the following results:
Haradinaj was re-elected as party president with 455 of 479
votes; Ahmet Isufi (AAK's general secretary) replaced Bajram
Kosumi as the party,s number two, and Kosumi dropped to
seventh place. The top ten vote getters in order:
Haradinaj; Isufi; Naim Maloku (AAK's member of Kosovo,s
Assembly Presidency); Jonuz Salihaj (Minister of Justice);
Ibrahim Selmanaj (Minister of Labor and Social Welfare);
Gjylnaze Syla (AAK,s Kosovo Assembly caucus leader and one
of only two women elected to the party presidency); Kosumi;
Ali Berisha; Arben Qirezi (new AAK member and political
advisor to Haradinaj and current Prime Minister Agim Ceku);
and Ardian Gjini (Minister of Environment and Spatial
Planning). Dugolli went from 7th to 19th place; Kosovo,s
Standards Coordinator and new AAK member Avni Arifi rounded
out the top 20. AAK internal party statutes also give new
AAK member Agim Ceku, as Prime Minister, an ex officio seat
on the party presidency. After the vote, local press
speculated that Kosumi's poor showing would presage his
departure from the AAK; he responded by saying "I haven't yet
decided."


4. (SBU) AAK's general secretary Ahmet Isufi, a former KLA
commander and Haradinaj loyalist told poloff and polFSN that
Haradinaj's political party was gaining adherents due to the
combination of his personal appeal and the uncertain future
leadership of the LDK, Kosovo's largest party, after its
founder President Ibrahim Rugova's death in January.


5. (SBU) COMMENT. Personalities dominate Kosovo's political
scene, political parties have stood for little other than
Kosovo's independence, and Haradinaj is doing all he can to
secure his small party's position in the coalition
government. In particular, Haradinaj can be counted on to
use his influence discourage the AAK prime minister from
removing AAK ministers from office in any reshuffle following
Prime Minister Ceku's promised performance evaluation. END

PRISTINA 00000449 002.2 OF 002


COMMENT.


6. (SBU) Post clears this message in its entirety for
release to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari.
GURIAN