Politics
Visar Ymeri was one of the leading members of Vetëvendosje,the largest party of Kosovo. In 2010 he was elected as a deputy of Vetëvendosje and was its chairman in the Assembly of Kosovo. [2] He is also a member of the parliamentary committee for economic development,infrastructure,trade and industry.
Visar Ymeri was elected leader of Vetëvendosje on 1 March 2015,at the General Council meeting,winning 97.42% of the vote. [3]
On 2 January 2018,Ymeri resigned as leader of Vetëvendosje,two months before the end of this mandate,following a crisis within the party. [4]
The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo or the Kuvendi, is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly elected by the people every four years. It was originally established by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo in 2001 to provide 'provisional, democratic self-government'. On February 17, 2008, representatives of the people of Kosovo unilaterally declared Kosovo's independence and subsequently adopted the Constitution of Kosovo, which came into effect on 15 June 2008.
The prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo is the head of government of Kosovo.
The politics of Kosovo takes place in a framework of a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President (Presidenti) is the head of state and the Prime Minister (Kryeministri) the head of government. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, the most recent in 2021.
Vetëvendosje is a left-leaning social democratic political party in Kosovo. It is a member of the Progressive Alliance, and an observer in the Party of European Socialists, and the Socialist International.
Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 6 October 2019. The main opposition parties received the most votes, led by Vetëvendosje and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti became Prime Minister, forming a governing coalition with the LDK on an anti-corruption platform. He is the second Prime Minister not to have been a fighter of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1990s.
Shpend Ali Ahmeti is a Kosovo Albanian politician who served as the mayor of Pristina. He was leader of the New Spirit Party, which merged into Vetëvendosje in 2011, and served as their vice chairman. However, after internal disputes he left the party in 2018 to become the leader of the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo. In 2019 he became an independent politician.
Glauk Konjufca is a Kosovo-Albanian activist, journalist and politician serving as speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo since March 2021. He was previously member of the Assembly, leader of the Vetëvendosje parliamentary group, speaker of the Assembly, minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as acting president of Kosovo until the election of Vjosa Osmani.
Pristina is the capital city of Kosovo. In the preliminary results of the 2011 census the population of Pristina was around 198,000. The majority of the population is Albanian, but there are also smaller communities including Bosniaks, Serbs, Romani and others. The surface of Pristina is 854 km2. Pristina is known as the center of cultural, economical and political developments. The city is home of the University of Pristina, Pristina International Airport Adem Jashari, the Government Building and the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo.
Dardan Sejdiu is a Kosovo Albanian politician. He served as the leader of the parliamentary group of Social Democratic Party of Kosovo in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. He also served as Deputy Mayor of Prishtina as a member of the capital of the Kosovo between 2014 and 2017, being a member of Vetëvendosje at the time. Previously, he has been engaged for four years as president of the management board of the Slovenian-Kosovo Pension with a key role in managing this fund for the whole of Kosovo. Sejdiu was a member of Vetevendosje from 2011 to 2018.
The Group of the Independent Deputies, also known as GDP, were a parliamentary group in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo made up of former members of the Vetëvendosje movement (LV). Dardan Sejdiu was the head of the parliamentary group.
Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu is a Kosovan jurist and politician who is the current president of Kosovo since 2021. Osmani was born and raised in Titova Mitrovica, SFR Yugoslavia and studied law at the University of Pristina and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She worked as an advisor to the president of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu before she was elected to the Assembly. Osmani held the position of Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo from February 2020 to March 2021, and also served as acting president between November 2020 and March 2021 after the resignation of President Hashim Thaçi. According to the constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, the president is in charge of the nation's foreign policy and serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Kosovo Security Force. Upon her election as president, Osmani became the second woman to hold the position, as well as the first person to have served as both acting president and president of Kosovo. Osmani successfully ran on an anti-corruption platform and has expressed a desire to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia. Since taking office, Osmani has returned the flag of Dardania as the official symbol of the presidency. Her efforts have emphasized the importance of individual action in addressing climate change while securing support at the highest political levels.
Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 14 February 2021. The results were a landslide victory for Vetëvendosje led by Albin Kurti and its coalition partner, Vjosa Osmani, former speaker of the parliament of Kosovo. The alliance won more than 50% of the total votes, the highest share since the first elections held in 2001, while their nearest rivals, the Democratic Party, finished in second place, trailing by more than 33%.
Donika Gërvalla-Schwarz is a Kosovan politician. A member of the Guxo political list of the Vetëvendosje political party, she has served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Second Deputy Prime Minister in the Second Kurti cabinet since 2021. Gërvalla-Schwarz is the daughter of assassinated Albanian activist Jusuf Gërvalla. She is the president of the centre-right political party Guxo!.
Arsim Rexhepi is a politician in Kosovo. He served in the Assembly of Kosovo from 2007 to 2011, initially as a member of the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) and later with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). He is now a member of Vetëvendosje (VV).
Besim Muzaqi is a politician in Kosovo. He was the deputy mayor of Vushtrri from 2017 to 2021 and has been a member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo since 2021. Muzaqi is a member of Vetëvendosje (VV).
Visar Korenica is a politician in Kosovo. He has served in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo since 2021 as a member of Vetëvendosje (VV).
Driton Çaushi is a politician in Kosovo. He served in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo from 2016 to 2019, initially as a member of Vetëvendosje (VV) and later with the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSD).
Donika Kadaj Bujupi is a politician in Kosovo. She served in the Assembly of Kosovo from 2007 to 2021 and in April 2023 was appointed as an advisor to Republic of Kosovo president Vjosa Osmani. Kadaj Bujupi was a member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) for most of her time as an elected official, although from 2016 to 2018 she was a member of Vetëvendosje (VV).
Pal Lekaj is a politician and medical doctor in Kosovo. He was the mayor of Gjakova from 2007 to 2013 and a cabinet minister in the Republic of Kosovo government from 2017 to 2020. Lekaj is a member of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).
Ali Lajçi is a politician in Kosovo. He was the mayor of Peja from 2001 to 2007 and has served in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo. At different times in his career, Lajçi has been a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), and Vetëvendosje (VV).
