VZCZCXRO5067
OO RUEHAST
DE RUEHPS #0609/01 2001801
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 191801Z JUL 06
FM USOFFICE PRISTINA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6321
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0773
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 000609 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL, INL, EUR/SCE, AND EUR/SSA, NSC FOR BRAUN, 
USUN FOR DREW SCHUFLETOWSKI, USOSCE FOR STEVE STEGER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM UNMIK YI
SUBJECT: KOSOVO: REVIEWS OF PM CEKU'S FIRST 100 DAYS 
GENERALLY POSITIVE 
 
REF: PRISTINA 600 PRISTINA 242 
 
PRISTINA 00000609  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED; PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The first 100 days of the government of 
Kosovo Prime Minister Ceku have been on balance very 
successful.  Ceku has focused his personal attention on 
Standards-related portfolios -- outreach to minorities, 
minority-focused legislation, property rights, security -- 
given priority by the international community in the final 
status process.  Ceku's 100-day report to the Kosovo Assembly 
prompted fair criticism from the opposition that Ceku has not 
removed a single minister from office, notwithstanding his 
strong indication upon taking office that heads would be 
rolling.  However much the political realities of maintaining 
a delicately balanced governing coalition may have forced 
Ceku to keep his broom in the closet, we believe he continues 
to be the right PM at the right time for Kosovo.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) In a July 14 address to the Kosovo Assembly, Kosovo 
Prime Minister Agim Ceku applauded his own government for its 
performance during the first 100 days of his administration. 
He praised in particular the government's focus on 
fulfillment of UNMIK "Standards of Good Governance" generally 
and more recent determination to fulfill the Contact Group's 
13 "Priorities for Standards Implementation" (reftel A). 
Ceku placed these government efforts firmly in a context of 
the final status negotiations and an expectation of imminent 
independence for Kosovo as well as integration into European 
structures. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Commenting on his cabinet, Ceku told the media June 
28 that he had reviewed the performance of each minister and 
that "I do not see that any minister has abused his office or 
not contributed to the Government's success.  For the time 
being, I do not see any reason to change."  In the debate 
that followed the PM's address, opposition leaders pointedly 
compared the record of current ministers with Ceku's rhetoric 
upon taking office.  On March 10 Agim Ceku had announced a 
no-nonsense policy calling for every minister to be subjected 
to his personal review every 90 days (reftel B).  At the 
time, Ceku acknowledged wide-spread accusations of corruption 
and vowed that underperforming, let alone corrupt, ministers 
would be removed.  Majority coalition partner Democratic 
League of Kosovo (LDK) publicly authorized Ceku, a member of 
the junior partner Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), 
to fire underperforming LDK ministers.  (NOTE. Although the 
PM would have such legal authority in any event, the LDK 
gesture was widely seen as conferring political authority on 
Ceku over LDK ministers as well. END NOTE.) 
 
¶4. (SBU) During the July 14 floor debate, Jakup Krasniqi, 
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) caucus leader, complained 
that Ceku's report took credit for government accomplishments 
that were actually realized by previous governments (i.e., 
the 2003-4 PDK government).  Veton Surroi, from the 
Assembly's smaller opposition Reform Party Ora, said the 
government has been acting without a concrete plan, given 
that the "same government has been in place through three 
prime ministers."  Within a few days of Ceku's address, the 
Organization for Democracy, Anticorruption and Dignity "Cohu" 
("Wake up" in Albanian), run by former reporter on Surroi's 
newspaper, issued a report alleging "corruption scandals" in 
Ceku's government.  Cohu cited reports of UNMIK's auditor 
general reports on the Pristina Airport and alleged that Ceku 
was ignoring widespread reports of corruption involving 
Minister of Trade and Industry Bujar Dugolli (AAK). 
 
¶5. (SBU) COMMENT.  As Ceku's report rightly boasts, the first 
100 days (we are actually past the 130-day mark) of his 
administration have been marked by a focus on 
Standards-related action items in a context of a political 
stability that had eluded Kosovo in the aftermath of the 
January 21 death of President Ibrahim Rugova.  That stability 
in government has translated to stability and cooperation 
within the Kosovo final status negotiating team, a necessary 
 
PRISTINA 00000609  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
precondition to a successful final status process.  Ceku 
would like to do more to fulfill his early pledges to hold 
his ministers to his personal account and is likely to do so 
as soon as he judges that the coalition he heads could 
survive the upheaval of firing influential ministers.  In the 
meantime, Ceku has grown accustomed to the taunts of the 
opposition.  And the opposition seems to understand the value 
of keeping the PM in place.  As Surroi said to CDA after the 
July 14 session, "we said our piece, the debate's over, we're 
moving on." 
 
¶6. (U) U.S. Office Pristina clears this cable for release in 
its entirety to U.N. Special Envoy for Kosovo Martti 
Ahtisaari. 
MCBRIDE