KOSOVO: LDK REFUSAL TO DEBATE ASSEMBLY AUDIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000906 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR DRL, INL, AND EUR/SCE, NSC FOR BRAUN, USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/26/2016 TAGS: PGOV KJUS KCRM EAID KDEM UNMIK YI SUBJECT: KOSOVO: LDK REFUSAL TO DEBATE ASSEMBLY AUDIT REPORT CAUSES OPPOSITION TO WALK OUT Classified By: COM TINA KAIDANOW FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: The ruling LDK party's refusal on October 27 to discuss an audit report highly critical of former Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci caused the opposition to walk out of the Assembly and boycott further participation until the issue was resolved. The problem started when LDK Assembly caucus head Alush Gashi -- most likely protecting his political options by avoiding open criticism of Daci, a candidate for the LDK presidency -- demanded that a vote be taken whether to include the report on the legislative agenda, arguing that "the report was not yet finished" and therefore should not be discussed. Most LDK members, including Speaker Berisha, and their AAK allies then voted to remove discussion of the audit from the agenda. COM spoke with President Sejdiu over the weekend to express serious concern over the conduct of the LDK caucus and the consequent political upheaval it had caused. We have also urged the the main opposition PDK party and the smaller ORA party to return to the Assembly, as we work with the LDK to get this bad decision reversed and prevent any consequent damage to the Unity Team. END SUMMARY. Gashi Once Again in the Middle of Bad Decision ¶2. (C) USOP learned on October 27 that the ruling LDK party had rejected discussion of an audit report, authored by the Office of the Auditor General of Kosovo (an international), that included findings of financial impropriety and mismanagement against former Assembly speaker and current candidate for LDK president, Nexhat Daci. We later found out that LDK caucus head Alush Gashi had been the one to challenge Assembly President Berisha's decision to include the report on the legislative agenda for debate. Gashi, who had created problems with passage of the Standards-related Language Law a month earlier, claimed that the report was "not complete" and asked for a vote on whether to remove the audit discussion from the legislative agenda. Berisha, who had the power to reject Gashi's request on procedural grounds and who initially argued in favor of debating it, gave in and allowed a vote to be taken. ¶3. (C) The vote, 48-30, with 9 abstentions -- only one LDK member voted to keep it on the agenda -- deep-sixed debate and caused the main opposition PDK party and smaller ORA party to walk out en masse, saying they would boycott future Assembly proceedings until the issue was resolved. They argued that the vote made it appear that the ruling LDK was attempting to hide the involvement of one of its leading members in criminal activity. Earlier, to opposition applause, PDK caucus head Jakup Krasniqi read an excerpt from the report, which dealt with Daci requesting two armored vehicles for himself, at the cost of 750,000 euros each. Cleaning Up The Mess ¶4. (C) COM called President Sejdiu over the weekend to express strong concern that this inept display not only made the ruling LDK appear complicit in hiding the report, but that the walk-out by the opposition could hurt Assembly unity in the critical weeks leading up to final status resolution. She reminded him that Ambassador Wisner, during his visit last week to Pristina, had emphasized the theme of unity among parties in the run-up to final status, yet here was the LDK acting as though that message had never been delivered. Other calls were placed to LDK caucus officials to deliver this same point; efforts to reach Gashi himself failed, as he flew out of the country over the weekend and returned only on the afternoon of October 30. Polcouns also encouraged the PDK and ORA leadership to return to the Assembly, noting that we were working with the LDK to make certain the report would receive the airing it deserved. ¶6. (C) COMMENT: Late in the day, the LDK Presidency issued a statement reversing its Assembly caucus's position, instead advocating open discussion of the audit report and "obliging" the caucus to accept the agenda item. Whether the PRISTINA 00000906 002 OF 002 independent-minded caucus leadership under Gashi will agree is yet to be seen. LDK's inept performance is reminiscent of the debacle some weeks ago on the Language Law, when individual LDK positions trumped party discipline, a frequent failing of the LDK party structure. Gashi was at the center of that controversy, as he is with this present one; he continues to flirt with Daci, probably assuming that by holding the line against a public debate of Daci's misdeeds, he will earn the latter's appreciation. We will work with both LDK caucus members -- at least those more amenable to our intercession -- as well as opposition representatives to bring this latest political brouhaha to a close before it can damage political unity prospects and interfere with the work of the Unity Team. END COMMENT. ¶7. (SBU) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable in its entirety for release to U.N. Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. KAIDANOW