Daci splits from LDK, forms own party

Daci splits from LDK, forms own party

The move followed a party congress last year in which Daci and his allies lost the leadership of the party to Kosovo's President Fatmir Sejdiu.

Kosovo is governed by a coalition between the LDK and the much smaller Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, which jointly hold a slim majority in the 120-seat parliament. Daci's camp said they have the backing of at least six deputies.

He said on Friday, however, that he did not plan to destabilize the coalition during the period of its mandate.

Daci served as the speaker of the Kosovo parliament for four years but was dismissed in early 2006 as part of a broader reshuffle within the governing coalition.

He accused U.S. diplomats of pushing him out, a highly unusual claim for an ethnic Albanian politician in Kosovo, where the United States is considered a savior by Kosovo's Albanians for its role in leading NATO's air war that pushed Serb forces out of the province in 1999.