KOSOVO: BROAD-BASED, MULTI-ETHNIC GOVERNMENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 PRISTINA 000011

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2018
TAGS: PGOV KDEM UNMIK YI KV
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: BROAD-BASED, MULTI-ETHNIC GOVERNMENT
APPROVED IN KOSOVO

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


1. (C) SUMMARY: On January 9 the newly constituted Kosovo
Assembly, reflecting the coalition agreement between the PDK
and LDK parties, overwhelmingly elected PDK leader Hashim
Thaci as Prime Minister and approved his cabinet by 88 votes
out of a total 120. Thaci got an extra boost as Bexhet
Pacolli's New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) party, in the opposition,
also voted in favor of the new government. The Assembly, on
the third ballot and by simple majority vote, also re-elected
President Sejdiu to a new five-year mandate by a fairly good
margin (68/120); Sejdiu was not able to get the required
two-thirds majority needed to win on either of the first two
ballots. The Assembly also approved PDK Secretary General
Jakup Krasniqi as Assembly Speaker. The seven-hour long
proceedings were remarkably orderly and calm, but not without
some drama -- Ramush Haradinaj's AAK party, disgruntled at
being left out of government, challenged Sejdiu by putting up
its own candidate for president. Its deputy chairman also
bitterly criticized the PDK-LDK coalition as "unnatural and
contradictory."


2. (C) SUMMARY (cont'd): Hashim Thaci, whose burning desire
always has been to be prime minister, is facing more than he
bargained for: the daunting task of leading Kosovo through
what will likely be the most important chapter in its modern
history. He made an auspicious beginning in handing two
serious ministries to Serbs and one more to a Turk, and he
made a point of reaching out to Serbs in his acceptance
speech at the session. Several members of his cabinet are
well and favorably known to us; we will work to maintain
those relationships and develop new ones, such as with
little-known Energy Minister Pula-Shiroka. END SUMMARY.

Some Surprises, But Proceedings Generally Calm, Orderly


3. (C) Coming out of the November 17 central elections, the
Kosovo Assembly elected its Speaker and Presidency along with
Kosovo's President, Prime Minister, and government during a
marathon seven-hour session on January 9. (Septels contain
bios of PM Thaci, Assembly Speaker Krasniqi, and the new
ministers.) The session began two hours late, partly because
of the need to carefully coordinate the complexities of
electing Assembly officials, the President, and the
government in one day, and partly because parties continued
to hash out their political plans until the last minute. The
first vote, 88 to one (out of a total 120 MPs although not
all were present),easily elected the Assembly Presidency,
and PDK designated its secretary general, Jakup Krasniqi, as
Speaker; Krasniqi chaired the remainder of the session.
(NOTE: Per Kosovo's Constitutional Framework (CF),the
Assembly Presidency consists of eight members - two each from
the top two parties (PDK's Krasniqi and Xhavit Haliti and
LDK's Eqrem Kryeziu and Sabri Hamiti),one each from the next
two largest parties (AKR's Ibrahim Gashi and LDD president
Nexhat Daci),one Serb (to be determined),and one non-Serb
minority (rotating). Because it came in fifth in the
elections, Ramush Haradinaj's AAK did not earn a seat on the
Presidency. END NOTE.)


4. (C) As planned, Speaker Krasniqi then announced President
Sejdiu's resignation, required before he could stand for
re-election, and Eqrem Kryeziu nominated Sejdiu as the
coalition's candidate for President of Kosovo. In a surprise
move previewed to us only hours before, AAK chose to nominate
a counter-candidate, AAK second vice president Naim Maloku,
with 25 MP signatures as required by the CF. The very act of
doing this was a significant challenge to Sejdiu, since a
two-thirds vote is necessary for election of the President on
the first two ballots; a third ballot can be won by a simple
majority of 61 votes. (COMMENT: The AAK's motivation was
likely retaliation for Sejdiu and the LDK "abandoning" them
and joining up with PDK. END COMMENT.)

Sejdiu Wins on Third Ballot


5. (C) In the first round of voting, 62 voted for Sejdiu, 37

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for Maloku, and 16 voided their ballots. In the second
round, Sejdiu lost one vote, earning just 61, and 17 were
invalid. Krasniqi called for a break after the second round,
during which the LDK, PDK, and AAK caucuses met privately.
After re-convening, Sejdiu was elected with 68 votes, a
comfortable margin for a convincing mandate. (COMMENT: From
the vote, it was apparent that not all PDK and LDK MPs
supported Sejdiu. Within LDK there are MPs resentful that
they did not receive ministerial posts, while some in the PDK
still oppose the whole notion of coalition with the LDK.
During the pause, USOP COM and poloff met with key LDK and
PDK MPs to remind them of what was at stake if Kosovo ended
the day without a President or a government, a move that
helped break the logjam in the third round of voting. END
COMMENT.)

Thaci Government Overwhelmingly Elected


6. (C) The rest of the session went according to plan.
President Sejdiu nominated Thaci for Prime Minister and
invited him to present his cabinet nominees and program.
After he did so, individual delegates took the floor to
comment on or criticize the proposed coalition. Most
opposition members took a reasonably positive approach, with
AKR's Pacolli saying he would support Thaci "because the
people of Kosovo voted for him," and LDD's Besa Gaxherri
promising to be constructive on matters of national interest.
However, AAK's acting president Ahmet Isufi, perhaps in an
unwise bid to justify challenging Sejdiu earlier in the day,
was uncharacteristically and surprisingly shrill in his
denunciation of both LDK and PDK, calling LDK's "abandonment"
of the AAK "an insult." Even other AAK members speaking
after him seemed to realize this was a mistake and were more
conciliatory. Serb MP Slobodan Petrovic, leader of the Serb
Independent Liberal Party (SLS) and part of the LDK/PDK
coalition, made a commendable speech, acknowledging that
while he and his party could not share the goal of
independence for Kosovo, it was a mistake for Kosovo Serbs to
stand outside the governing institutions; he congratulated
Sejdiu and Thaci and pledged to help make the new government
a success. After various interventions, the vote proceeded
on the new government: 85 in favor, 22 against. (NOTE: In a
welcome move, Pacolli's AKR voted in favor of the new
government; in a less welcome move, LDK's irascible Melihate
Termkolli alone joined the rest of the opposition in voting
against. END NOTE.)

Thaci Promises To Be PM For All Kosovars


7. (U) In his various interventions during the day, Thaci
repeatedly pledged to govern on behalf of all citizens of
Kosovo, regardless of ethnicity, and during his acceptance
speech spoke a few sentences in Serbian, assuring Serbs that
they continued to have a home in Kosovo and asserting the
right of all displaced Serbs to return to Kosovo and live in
peace and security.

COMMENT


8. (C) Despite some tense moments, the new Assembly's first
real day of work was an unqualified success, and a
broad-based, multi-ethnic government is now in place in
Kosovo. The entire day was conducted, despite the political
drama, in a calm, orderly fashion in line with UNMIK and
international democratic standards. SRSG Ruecker summed up
international feeling when he, as the last to address the
Assembly, said that Kosovo had again demonstrated it was
"ready for the next level".


9. (C) COMMENT (cont'd): That said, PM Thaci will have his
hands full as he leads Kosovo at probably the most important
period in its modern history -- the final lap to
independence. The cabinet he has assembled contains several
names well and favorably known to us, but others -- some in
key ministries -- are almost complete unknowns, including new
Energy Minister Pula-Shiroka. We will engage at all levels
to help bring the new government up to full capability as

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quickly as possible, and also to articulate major priorities,
including preparation of the draft constitution and Ahtisaari
legislative measures. End comment.
KAIDANOW