Kosovo PM steps down

Bajram Kosumi quits after pressure from his party, international criticism

Kosovo’s PM Bajram Kosumi announces his resignation in Pristina, yesterday.

By Shaban Buza - Reuters

PRISTINA - Kosovo Prime Minister Bajram Kosumi resigned yesterday following international criticism that he had failed to do enough to create a multiethnic state as the province seeks independence.

Citing the need to preserve a coalition majority and the cooperation of Kosovo’s Western backers, Kosumi told reporters, “I find the correct and ethical action is to resign from the post of prime minister.” Kosumi, 45, handed in his resignation to President Fatmir Sejdiu after word leaked that he no longer had the confidence of his own party, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).

Kosumi was also criticized for ineptness by other members of Kosovo’s ruling ethnic Albanian coalition and Western mentor states shepherding the Serbian province through talks that could lead to its independence later this year.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan criticized the Kosumi government in a January report for not doing enough to meet democratic standards set by the UN for the creation of a just and smoothly functioning multiethnic society.

Political sources said Kosumi’s resignation was the “result of pressure” following a round of meetings with Western envoys earlier in the week, including the United States.

He is expected to be succeeded by Agim Ceku, a former senior commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) who now heads the Kosovo Protection Force, the civil emergency unit set up to absorb former rebel fighters.

“Agim Ceku has been offered the post of prime minister and is going to say he accepts at a press conference this afternoon,” a source close to Ceku said yesterday.

Kosumi was elected by the Albanian-dominated Kosovo Parliament a year ago when then prime minister Ramush Haradinaj was indicted on war crimes charges by the United Nations tribunal in The Hague.

Political sources said the ruling coalition was very unhappy with Kosumi’s performance, his perceived lack of leadership and inefficiency. They pointed out that two Cabinet posts, for the interior and justice portfolios, had still not been filled three months after they were created by the province’s administration.

The West wants Kosovo’s status resolved this year and is impatient with any unnecessary delays.