Fatmir Sejdiu

Infobox President
name = Fatmir Sejdiu


imagesize = 98px
order = President of Kosovo
primeminister = Bajram Kosumi
Agim Çeku
Hashim Thaçi
term_start = 10 February 2006
predecessor = Ibrahim Rugova
birth_date = birth date and age|1951|10|23|df=y
birth_place = Pakashtica, Kosovo and Metohija, Yugoslavia
party = LDK

Fatmir Sejdiu (Serbo-Croat: "Fatmir Sejdiju") Audio|Fatmir Sejdiu.ogg|listen (born October 23, 1951) is the second and current President of Kosovo.

He was born in the small village of Pakashtica near Podujevo, in then Kosovo and Metohija, Yugoslavia. He served as a professor at the University of Prishtina, teaching throughout his tenure as a Parliamentarian.

Sejdiu was an early protester against Serbian authoritarian rule and had for many years in his academic office a portrait depicting himself and fellow political party leader Veton Suroi locking arms before the riot police. He has always been widely admired for being honest and fair in all his political dealings.

Due to persisting conflicts between Kosovo's Liberty Army (KLA) and the security forces of Yugoslavia under Serbian President Slobodan Milošević, the Kosovo War broke out in 1996 between the two factions. Accusations of widespread abuse by government forces towards ethnic Albanians in 1999 ignited the second part of the war in which NATO forces intervened and unleashed a bombing campaign against President Milošević. The war ended in mid-1999, and Kosovo was placed under a UN Protectorate of autonomy where Ibrahim Rugova became the president of the territory. President Sejdiu succeeded Rugova and became the first president of the country of Kosovo when Kosovo officially declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008.

Sejdiu served in each of the Presidencies of the LDK as well as serving on the Presidency of the Assembly of Kosovo.

Sejdiu was an influential parliamentarian in the Democratic League of Kosova (LDK), the party of former Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova. He was elected President by the Kosovo Assembly after Rugova died from lung cancer in early 2006. Sejdiu has won praise from the international community for prioritizing implementation of the UN-endorsed "standards" of good governance and multi-ethnicity.

On July 24, 2006, Sejdiu attended in Vienna the first high-level meeting between the prime ministers and presidents of Kosovo and Serbia to discuss the future status of Kosovo.

On January 9, 2008, Sejdiu resigned from his position as President of Kosovo to run again in the following elections held the same day. This would allow him to start a completely new term with the inauguration of the new legislature, given that there are no term limits established by the Constitution Framework. He received only 62 votes out of 81 needed for his election, and was expected to regain his position only after a third round of parliamentary vote, when a simple majority of 61 votes is required for the election of the president. His opponent, Naim Maloku of the AAK, running with the support of three minor parties, obtained 37 votes in the first round. Sejdiu received one vote less in the second round, while 37 deputies chose Maloku.

Sejdiu was elected in the third round of voting later on the same day. [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22575375/ "Ex-rebel becomes Kosovo’s prime minister"] , Associated Press (MSNBC), January 9, 2008.]

Fatmir Sejdiu was one of the authors of the Constitutional Framework of Kosovo in 2001. He speaks Albanian, English, Serbian, and French.

He lives in Pristina, the capital of the Kosovo, with his wife Nezafete and their three sons.

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.president-ksgov.net/?id=1,67,67,67,e Official website of the President of Kosovo]

* Fatmir Sejdiu's profile at [http://www.assembly-kosova.org/?krye=deputet&lang=en&depid=393 Kosovo Assembly Website]