KOSOVO: ELECTION RESULTS ALLOW FOR SERB

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000804

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/05/2017
TAGS: KDEM PGOV KV UNMIK
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: ELECTION RESULTS ALLOW FOR SERB
REPRESENTATION IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT; UNMIK MAKES DECISION
ON SERB MUNICIPAL AUTHORITIES IN WAKE OF BOYCOTT


Classified By: Chief of Mission Tina S. Kaidanow for reasons 1.4 (b),(
d)


1. (C) SUMMARY. With the preliminary results in and 3,297
ballots counted for Serb parties contesting the Assembly
vote, Kosovo Serb participation in the November 17 elections
appears greater than in 2004. The ten Assembly seats set
aside for Serbs were split between six small Kosovo Serb
parties, with absentee ballots playing a key role. OSCE and
Central Election Commission (CEC) staffers disqualified many
mail-in votes due to evidence of fraud, preventing a sweep of
the 10 set-aside seats by the Bogljub Karic-PSS party, which
has almost no current presence in Kosovo. Faced with a
near-total Serb boycott in the municipal elections, SRSG
Rucker announced December 5 that he would appoint municipal
assemblies and mayors in accordance with the ethnic
composition of each municipality. This will mean
Serb-controlled assemblies and mayors in Zvecan, Zubin Potok,
Leposavic, and Strpce, and a Serb-majority assembly with an
Albanian mayor in Novo Brdo. By negating the worst of the
mail-in fraud, OSCE and the CEC helped empower the most
important local Serb parties, giving Hashim Thaci's PDK
viable options for including Serb parties in government. END
SUMMARY.

Mixed Results...


2. (C) With 3,297 votes counted for Kosovo Serb political
entities (470 of them by mail),the ten Kosovo Assembly seats
set aside for Serbs were distributed among six parties. The
moderate Independent Liberal Party (SLS),led by Slobodan
Petrovic, received three seats, as did the Serbian Democratic
Party of Kosovo (SDSKiM),led by former Minister for Returns
Slavisa Petkovic. Four other parties received one seat each
- New Democracy (ND),led by current Returns Minister
Branislav Grbic; the Serbian Kosovo and Metohija Party
(SKMS),led by Dragisa Miric; the Serb National Party (SNS),
led by Mihailo Scepanovic; and the Council of Independent
Social Democrats of Kosovo (SNSDKiM). Only SDSKiM and ND
have participated in government before. On December 4,
SDSKiM, SKMS, SNS, and SNSDKiM announced a four-party,
six-seat coalition in an attempt to join the government,
though no deal has yet been struck with any Albanian party.

...After Heavy Cuts


3. (C) OSCE international staffers inside the vote-counting
operation kept us well-informed in the run-up to the release
of preliminary results on December 1. The arrival of 4100
absentee ballots cast for the Movement of Serbian Forces
(PSS) party, led by the controversial Serbian banker Bogoljub
Karic (now on the run in Moscow from an indictment launched
by the Kostunica government) took almost everyone at the OSCE
and Central Election Commission (CEC) by surprise. PSS has a
very low - in fact, almost invisible - current profile in
Kosovo. The party did not conduct any visible campaign
before the November 17 elections, and even party officials
admitted to us that PSS's 10 Assembly candidates were literal
unknowns. If counted, these 4100 votes would have been
sufficient to capture most or all of the 10 set-aside seats.
However, CEC disqualified all but 38 of the PSS absentee
ballots, as they appeared to be the product of a either a
fraud or vote-buying campaign. OSCE officials told us that
the other Kosovo Serb parties all submitted their own
questionable mail-in ballots, many of which (roughly 14,000)
were disqualified. (Note: OSCE has not yet finished data
entry; we will get the final number of disqualified ballots
in a few days. End Note.)

Dealing with the municipalities


4. (C) In the face of a near-total Kosovo Serb boycott of
municipal elections, the SRSG announced that he would, in
accordance with prevailing ethnic balance, appoint municipal

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assemblies and mayors in the northern municipalities, Strpce,
and Novo Brdo, for a term of six months. The SRSG will not
certify electoral results in the three northern
municipalities (Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic) due to
the extremely low turnout. The results in Strpce and Novo
Brdo, which have significant Albanian populations, will be
certified to provide a basis for selecting new Albanian
municipal assembly members. The current Serb assembly
members will remain in place and continue to hold a majority
in all five municipalities. The SRSG will appoint Serb
mayors in Zvecan, Zubin Potok, Leposavic, and Strpce, but
will appoint an Albanian mayor in Novo Brdo.


5. (C) COMMENT. Despite the presence of some suspect
mail-in ballots, the fact that 3,297 votes were counted for
Kosovo Serb parties -- and that 2,827 of them were physically
cast in Kosovo -- represents a willingness by at least some
Serbs to ignore Belgrade and have a say in their governance.
While none of the elected parties can be considered truly
representative, future Prime Minister Hashim Thaci will have
some viable options to choose from to fulfill his stated
intent of including Kosovo Serbs in his government. PDK
officials inferred to P/E Chief December 3 that they could
invite the SLS's three Assembly members into the governing
coalition, and Prime-Minister designate Hashim Thaci made
clear to the COM and to visiting Amb. Wisner that he fully
intended to include Serb and non-Serb minority members in his
government, though he has yet to indicate a preference for
any specific party or candidates. END COMMENT.
KAIDANOW