KOSOVO: OPPOSITION RETURNS TO ASSEMBLY AFTER AUDIT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000933

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: OPPOSITION RETURNS TO ASSEMBLY AFTER AUDIT
REPORT FRACAS

REF: A. PRISTINA 906


B. PRISTINA 930

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: After repeated intercession by USOP, the
opposition returned to the Kosovo Assembly after a one-week
boycott, as the ruling LDK party finally got its house in
order and agreed to discuss the Auditor General's
fact-finding report on mismanagement under former Assembly
Speaker Nexhat Daci. With much debate, the Assembly approved
by a vote of 58-5 an investigative commission to look into
the findings, although most of the LDK caucus abstained from
voting. The formation of such a commission to look into
Daci's misdeeds would normally be good news, but it could be
the source of much discord and deadlock, as Kosovo heads into
the crucial last months of final status resolution. END
SUMMARY.

Opposition Returns, Investigative Commission Formed


2. (SBU) The opposition returned to the Kosovo Assembly
November 3, after the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo
(LDK) party agreed to include an audit report critical of
former Assembly Speaker Nexhat Daci's tenure on the
legislative agenda. Opposition parties ORA and PDK had
walked out of parliament a week earlier after the LDK had
removed the point from the agenda (reftel). The welcome
decision to resume the work of the Assembly came after much
intercession by COM with both government and opposition
parties. The Kosovo Assembly, after five hours of debate,
also approved by a 58-5 vote an investigative commission to
look into the audit report's charges. The vote was
electronic and thus anonymous, but half the LDK caucus likely
abstained, since 87 assembly members total were present for
the vote. Naim Maloku, acting caucus head of Alliance for
the Future of Kosovo (AAK),LDK,s partner in the governing
coalition, expressed AAK,s support for the establishment of
an investigative commission chaired by the opposition.


3. (C) Following a brief adjournment after the vote, the
Assembly agreed to appont Ferid Agani of the tiny opposition
Justice Party as chair, LDK member Lutfi Zharku as first
deputy, and Bosniak Husnija Beskovic (Bosnian party, "Six
Plus" caucus) as second deputy. In all, 14 committee members
were selected: 6 LDK, 1 AAK, and 7 from the opposition.
(Note: Agani was made committee head after the parties
agreed to expand the mandate of the investigation to include
the period 2002-2006, during which time the opposition PDK
party was briefly in office, and therefore not suitable to
lead the committee's work. Moreover, LDK caucus head Gashi
would not agree to let the PDK to chair the committee alone,
and Assembly rules do not provide for co-chairing of
committees.) Our initial soundings indicate that at least
one and perhaps several of the LDK members included on the
committee are Daci supporters, guaranteeing that there will
be further highly contentious debate over the committee's
work and conclusions. Ferid Agani himself is known to be
close to wealthy Kosovar expatriate and "Alliance for a New
Kosovo" founder Bexhet Pacolli, and Pacolli is in turn
reportedly financing many of Daci's activities.

What Next?


4. (SBU) The committee is to meet to discuss its mandate and
rules, and then present these to the Assembly for approval at
the next plenary session. The committee, as noted above, has
apparently agreed to expand the Auditor General's inquiry,
which focused on recent management practices under Daci;
instead the committee will look into the Assembly's work and
its institutional management since its inception in 2002, a
very broad mandate. (Note: Under the audit law itself,
audited institutions are supposed to produce within 30 days
an action plan for addressing problems identified by the
audit. According to the AG, an international, the Assembly
has not yet produced such a plan. End Note.)


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5. (C) The Italian contingent of Guardia di Finanza, working
under UNMIK/SRSG auspices, and UNMIK DoJ prosecutors are
continuing their investigation of the financial aspects of
the audit report and some arrests have already been made as a
consequence of their findings. On the order of an
international judge, DoJ arrested former Daci security
adviser Ahmet Alishani and Assembly budget office director
Jusuf Nikci on October 31 in connection with the
investigation. Nikci had been suspended with pay from the
Assembly staff only days earlier, along with three other
staffers: procurement chief Alajdin Ibrahimi; former
permanent secretary and Daci supporter Jusuf Demaj; and
furnishings officer Burim Latifi. In contacts with USOP,
neither the Guardia di Finanza nor UNMIK DoJ were willing to
say how much longer their investigation might continue or
when they might make their findings known to the Assembly
leadership.


6. (C) COMMENT: The audit report fiasco demonstrates the
negative impact that the LDK internal struggle is having on
the party's discipline and unity (for more on LDK dynamics,
see ref B). It is also an excellent example of how ready the
opposition is to seize on any weakness or policy misstep by
the governing parties. We have cautioned both the LDK and
the opposition PDK, as well as ORA, that their cutthroat
brand of politics cannot be allowed to endanger the
functioning of a key institution at this crucial time in the
status process. But individual agendas on the LDK side, as
well as a driving ambition by PDK leader Thaci to unseat the
government, make it harder over time to contain these crises.
As the LDK leadership contest drags out, we will need to use
all our persuasive ability to bring their assembly caucus
members to heel, as well as continuously underscore the
stakes involved to the PDK and ORA. END COMMENT.


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