7 years ago Hashim Thaci was elected president of Kosovo

Kosovo Democratic Party Chairman Hashim Thaci has been elected president of Kosovo in the third round of voting amid high political tensions, on February 26th of 2016.

He has won 71 votes in the third round, as in the first two rounds he has failed to secure two-thirds of the deputies' votes. His solution has been strongly opposed by opposition parties, which have twice in a row interrupted the session by throwing tear gas.

In the first part of the session, opposition MPs, one after another, have discussed the solution of Thaci to the presidential post, accusing him and then Prime Minister Isa Mustafen of harmful acts against Kosovo. In their debates, they have stressed the agreements reached in talks with Serbia, as well as the one for border demarcation with Montenegro.

Opposition MPs have shown suspicion that the candidate for president, Hashim Thaci, may have made new concessions in front of the Serbian List in return for their vote in favour of his election.

While the rounds of voting were under way outside parliament, police have used tear gas and <x0-tops of water” to disperse groups of protesters who have thrown bottles of gasoline against the process of electing Kosovo's new president. At least 11 police members and one protestor have been injured during the clashes.

Hashim Thaci took office as president on April 7th 2016, following the solemn oath at the Kosovo Assembly.

Before becoming president, Thaci has been the first deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister (2014-2015), as well as prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo in two terms (2007-2014).

Thaci has been the first president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and has been repeatedly elected president of the party, until his resignation on February 26, 2016, before being voted for president of Kosovo.

Hashim Thaci has declared Kosovo an independent state on February 17th 2008, has led the Kosovo team in the talks in Ramboullett in February 1999, and has been political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 1997 war years, 1999. Thaci has been the most voted political leader in the June 8, 2014, elections.

As Kosovo prime minister, Hashim Thaci has led political dialogue between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia, as of April 19, 2013, has resulted in the signing of the agreement for normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

For his commitment to peace and stability, in 2014, Hashim Thaci has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by US congressmen and senators, as well as representatives of the European Parliament.

Hashim Thaci's political career has started with his commitment to the Kosovo People's Movement (LPK), political movement aimed at emancipating the position of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia.

As a student at the University of Pristina, Thaci has become the leader of the Student Movement in the period between 1990s and 1993, years when Belgrade's power has closed university educational institutions in Albanian, while the University of Pristina has started operating outside the institutional system.

In 1991, Thaci was elected a prorector-student of the University of Pristina, where he contributed to the structure and development of the parallel university learning process.

Hashim Thaci is one of the founders of the political-military organisation, the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK).

Since 1997, Hashim Thaci has been the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army Political Directorate. In this quality, he has led the Kosovo delegation to the International Conference, held in Ramboullett, France, from 6 to 22 February 1999. After the war, Hashim Thaci has been prime minister of the Kosovo Interim Government from 1999 to 2000.

Thaci has been a member of the Interim Administrative Council (KPA), this governing joint structure of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovo political class, until 2001, when the first parliamentary elections in post-war Kosovo were held.

In October 1999, Hashim Thaci has been among the founders of the Kosovo Party of Democratic Progress (PPDK). At the party's first election assembly in 2000, the party has changed its name to the Democratic Party of Kosovo, while Hashim Thaci has been elected chairman of the post, which it has held until February 26th 2016.

Thaci has been a member of the Unity Team that has represented Kosovo in the UN Special Emissari-led negotiating process, President Martti Ahtisaari, who has negotiated Kosovo's political status, 2005 HINA 2007.

After winning the Democratic Party of Kosovo in the November 17th 2007 parliamentary elections, Hashim Thaci has been elected prime minister of the Kosovo government. On February 17, 2008, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in the Kosovo Assembly has declared Kosovo an independent state.

Thaci has been the first prime minister of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. He has resigned from the president's position to start immediately towards The Hague, due to the indictment filed by the Special Court.

At the recent conference as president, he has said he would not allow himself to appear as Kosovo President at the dock of indictees before the Special Court. /Kosovo pres/