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DE RUEHPS #0365/01 1181414
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 281414Z APR 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6064
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0669
RHMFISS/CDR USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK
RHFMIUU/AFSOUTH NAPLES IT
RHMFIUU/CDR TF FALCON
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEPGEA/CDR650THMIGP SHAPE BE
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHDC
RUFOANA/USNIC PRISTINA SR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRISTINA 000365 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE, AND EUR/SSA, NSC FOR BBRAUN, 
USUN FOR DSCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR SSTEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PREL UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: BERISHA LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT BALANCE IN 
DEMOCRACTIZING KOSOVO'S ASSEMBLY 
 
REF: PRISTINA 335 
 
Sensitive but unclassified; please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: In his first several weeks as president of 
Kosovo's Assembly, Kole Berisha has made great progress in 
making it more fiscally and procedurally democratic and less 
autocratic.  Berisha has taken public steps to distance 
himself from the questionable fiscal practices and 
domineering style of his predecessor, Nexhat Daci, meeting 
frequently with caucus leaders, members of civil society, and 
opening up the floor of plenary sessions to all who make 
requests to speak.  He invited a series of Assembly audits by 
UNMIK's Auditor General.  He has devoted more parliamentary 
attention to minority-related legislation and has agreed to a 
review of the Assembly's often contradictory rules of 
procedure.  His attention to dealing with the legacy of 
Daci's tenure, however, has held him back from developing his 
own leadership style.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Since taking office on March 10, new Assembly 
president Kole Berisha has instituted an open door policy, 
holding regular meetings with caucus leaders and heads of 
committees, the seven-member Assembly presidency, and student 
groups and civil society.  Procedural reform is a priority on 
his agenda, and according to David Payne, a parliamentary 
advisor provided by the National Democratic Institute (NDI), 
Berisha instituted an events calendar to regularize plenary 
and committee sessions which were previously held frequently 
with only a day's notice.  In marked contrast to former 
Assembly President Nexhat Daci's penchant for creatively 
interpreting Assembly rules, Berisha has instituted 
predictability of procedure.  Berisha is also considering 
instituting a "question time" for government ministers 
modeled after the UK parliament.  Opposition leaders Veton 
Surroi and Hashim Thaci both praised his initial steps in 
meetings with visiting Contact Group representatives 
(reftel). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Berisha takes fiscal reform of the Assembly very 
seriously.  Daci's decision to construct a "protocol complex" 
in Germia (in Pristina's suburbs) at an estimated cost of 
three million euros and without parliamentary approval, 
elicited a sea of complaints led by Surroi's opposition 
Reform Party Ora.  Berisha invited the Auditor General, whose 
team is made up of locals and internationals from Deloitte 
and Touche, to audit not only the Germia project but all of 
the Assembly's books.  According to an USAID institutional 
advisor, in two weeks of work the auditors have already 
documented procurement irregularities, unaccounted for office 
furniture (including a plasma television Daci evidently had 
delivered to his ski chalet), and bills for personal items 
such as cosmetic dentistry and clothing.  A final report is 
set to be completed in May; Berisha told COM he will make the 
results public. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In stark contrast to Daci's style, the self-effacing 
Berisha has limited himself to a small office and is allowing 
committees to use the marble-laden opulent space constructed 
for Daci's private offices for their meetings.  Berisha 
allowed to COM that overseeing the transformation of this 
space into a proper conference room with simultaneous 
interpretation capabilities for the Assembly's multi-ethnic 
membership was logistically time-consuming and would cost too 
much money. 
 
¶5. (SBU) At Prime Minister Agim Ceku's request, Berisha's 
staff prioritized 26 pieces of standards-related legislation 
which are set be heard by the Assembly in the next three 
months.  The first of these are laws on religious freedom, 
media, use of languages, cultural heritage and intellectual 
property rights. 
 
¶6. (SBU) COMMENT: Berisha has made a good start on reforming 
the Assembly thereby giving it and the other Kosovo 
government institutions improved standing with a skeptical 
 
PRISTINA 00000365  002 OF 002 
 
 
Kosovo public used to credible rumors of corruption about its 
politicians.  He has a tendency, however, to become bogged 
down in the details of procedural reformation.  We will urge 
him to focus on procedural changes that would facilitate the 
passage of standards-related legislation.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Post clears this message in its entirety for release 
to Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari. 
GOLDBERG