Kosovo prime minister resigns
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Thursday, 2 March: 12.33 CET) – Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi has resigned his post amid criticism from the international community that he failed to do enough to create a multi-ethnic state and ensure the rights of the UN-administered province’s Serb minority.
Former Kosovo rebel leader Agim Ceku has been nominated to replace Kosumi.
In a January report, the UN criticized the Kosumi government for doing too little to meet democratic standards established by the international body for the creation of a just and smoothly functioning multi-ethnic society.
According to the UN report, little progress had been made towards realizing a series of benchmarks, including the rights of minorities, the fight against corruption, and refugee returns.
“Taking into account that the government is at risk of losing the majority in parliament and […] in the interest of cooperation with our international friends, I took this decision to resign from the post of the prime minister,” Kosumi said.
The Kosovo parliament elected Kosumi as prime minister a year ago, after then-prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was indicted for war crimes by the UN’s Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Most observers say Kosumi was a weak prime minister and had not earned the loyalty of the rest of the ministers. The decision to replace Haradinaj with Kosumi had been criticized from the beginning.
Kosumi’s resignation comes only days after the start of negotiation with the Serbian government on the future status of the province, where ethnic Kosovo Albanians are demanding total independence and Serbian authorities are offering only more autonomy.
The two sides opened the first phase of status talks on 20 February in Vienna, but after two days of negotiations, failed to reach any concrete agreement. The next round of talks are scheduled for 17 March.
Ceku, a former rebel commander, was nominated later on Wednesday as the next head of the government. Ceku now heads the province’s civil emergency organization, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), a body that is seen as the foundation of a future army should Kosovo win independence.
However, observers fear that Kosovo’s long-awaited status talks could be delayed because a Serbian court has charged Ceku with war crimes. Ceku held a high post in the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK/KLA) and was responsible for military operations against Serbian forces in 1998-1999 conflict.
Also on Wednesday, the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) party fired parliamentary speaker Nexhat Daci. The party said it was not satisfied with how the assembly handled the preparations for status talks with Serbia.
(By ISN Security Watch staff, Serbian news agencies)
Former Kosovo rebel leader Agim Ceku has been nominated to replace Kosumi.
In a January report, the UN criticized the Kosumi government for doing too little to meet democratic standards established by the international body for the creation of a just and smoothly functioning multi-ethnic society.
According to the UN report, little progress had been made towards realizing a series of benchmarks, including the rights of minorities, the fight against corruption, and refugee returns.
“Taking into account that the government is at risk of losing the majority in parliament and […] in the interest of cooperation with our international friends, I took this decision to resign from the post of the prime minister,” Kosumi said.
The Kosovo parliament elected Kosumi as prime minister a year ago, after then-prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was indicted for war crimes by the UN’s Hague-based International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Most observers say Kosumi was a weak prime minister and had not earned the loyalty of the rest of the ministers. The decision to replace Haradinaj with Kosumi had been criticized from the beginning.
Kosumi’s resignation comes only days after the start of negotiation with the Serbian government on the future status of the province, where ethnic Kosovo Albanians are demanding total independence and Serbian authorities are offering only more autonomy.
The two sides opened the first phase of status talks on 20 February in Vienna, but after two days of negotiations, failed to reach any concrete agreement. The next round of talks are scheduled for 17 March.
Ceku, a former rebel commander, was nominated later on Wednesday as the next head of the government. Ceku now heads the province’s civil emergency organization, the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), a body that is seen as the foundation of a future army should Kosovo win independence.
However, observers fear that Kosovo’s long-awaited status talks could be delayed because a Serbian court has charged Ceku with war crimes. Ceku held a high post in the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK/KLA) and was responsible for military operations against Serbian forces in 1998-1999 conflict.
Also on Wednesday, the ruling Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) party fired parliamentary speaker Nexhat Daci. The party said it was not satisfied with how the assembly handled the preparations for status talks with Serbia.
(By ISN Security Watch staff, Serbian news agencies)
posted by Marko at 3/02/2006 09:18:00 AM
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