New_Democratic_Initiative_of_Kosovo

New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo

New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo

Kosovar political party


The New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo (Albanian: Iniciativa e Re Demokrarike e Kosovës, IRDK) is a political party in Kosovo registered on 19 July 2001. It represents the Balkan Egyptian ethnic minority. Its current leader is Elbert Krasniqi, who serves as minister of local government administration in the Republic of Kosovo's coalition government.

Quick Facts Leader, Founded ...

The party was aligned with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) for many years, though more recently it has been associated with Vetëvendosje (VV).

History

The New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo was founded in March 2001 by Emin Sefa, Imer Alijaj, Ibish Bajrami, Bislim Hoti, Avdullah Qafani, and others. Hoti was chosen as the party's first leader.[1][2]

The party won two seats in the 2001 and 2004 Kosovan parliamentary elections, and its elected candidates in this period were Hoti and Xhevdet Neziraj.[3][4] Both served in the parliamentary group of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.[5][6][7][8]

Neziraj succeeded Hoti as party leader in 2007.[9] In the 2007 Kosovan parliamentary election, the party fell to one seat, which went to Neziraj. He continued to caucus with the AAK in the parliament that followed.[10]

The IRDK was the only registered party representing Kosovo's Egyptian community until December 2010, when Hoti founded the breakaway League of Egyptians of Kosovo (LEK).[11][12] In the 2010 Kosovan parliamentary election, Neziraj was elected to a fourth term, while the LEK failed to win any mandates.[13] Neziraj once again caucused with the AAK.[14] (Hoti, for his part, rejoined the IRDK in 2013.)[15]

The IRDK lost support to the newly formed Egyptian Liberal Party (PLE) in the 2014 parliamentary election and for the first time in its history fell below the electoral threshold for assembly representation. It remained below the threshold in the 2017 parliamentary election. Elbert Krasniqi succeeded Neziraj as party leader in 2017.[16]

The party returned to the assembly in the 2019 parliamentary election with Krasniqi as the party's elected delegate. In November 2019, he joined the parliamentary group of Vetëvendosje.[17] He was re-elected in the 2021 parliamentary election, in which Vetëvendosje won a landslide victory, and was afterward appointed as a minister in the Republic of Kosovo's coalition government. His assembly seat went to the second-ranked candidate on the party's electoral list, Fridon Lala, who sits with the Multiethnic assembly group.[18]

Electoral performance

Note: Of the four assembly seats reserved for the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities, one seat is specifically reserved for the Roma, one for the Ashkali, and one for the Egyptian community. The fourth seat is assigned to the community with the highest overall votes.[19]

More information Year, Popular vote ...

References

  1. Agata Domachowska, "The Political System of Kosovo," in Political Systems of the Former Yugoslavia, (Berlin: Peter Lang), 2017, p. 171.
  2. Rubin Zemon, "History of the Balkan Egyptians", Interculturalism and the Bologna Process, p. 8.
  3. Periudha e parë Legjislative (17.11.2001 - 23.11.2004) – Bislim Hoti, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2024.
  4. Periudha e parë Legjislative (17.11.2001 - 23.11.2004) – Xhevdet Neziraj, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2024.
  5. Periudha e dytë Legjislative (23.11.2004 - 12.12.2007) – Bislim Hoti, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2024.
  6. Periudha e dytë Legjislative (23.11.2004 - 12.12.2007) – Xhevdet Neziraj, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2004.
  7. Rubin Zemon, "History of the Balkan Egyptians", Interculturalism and the Bologna Process, p. 8.
  8. Periudha e tretë Legjislative (13.12.2007 - 03.11.2010) – Xhevdet Neziraj, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2004.
  9. Rubin Zemon, "History of the Balkan Egyptians", Interculturalism and the Bologna Process, p. 8.
  10. Abetarja e Pushtetit, Iniciativa Kosovare për Stabilitet, December 2013, p. 83.
  11. Periudha e katërt Legjislative (12.12.2010 - 07.05.2014) – Xhevdet Neziraj, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2024.
  12. IRDK Info, New Democratic Initiative for Kosovo, September 2013, p. 4.
  13. Elbert Krasniqi, Minister of Local Government Administration, Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2024.
  14. "IRDK MP Elbert Krasniqi joins the Vetevendosje Parliamentary Group", KOHA, 18 November 2019, accessed 21 March 2024.
  15. Fridon Lala, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 March 2024.

Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article New_Democratic_Initiative_of_Kosovo, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.