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

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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