Bajram Rexhepi

Bajram Rexhepi
Minister of the Interior for Kosovo
In office 1 April 2010 – 12 December 2014
Preceded by	Zenun Pajaziti
Succeeded by	Skënder Hyseni
Prime Minister of Kosovo
In office 4 March 2002 – 3 December 2004
Preceded by	Bujar Bukoshi
Succeeded by	Ramush Haradinaj
Personal details
Born	3 June 1954 Kosovska Mitrovica, Yugoslavia (in today's Kosovo)
Political party	PDK

Bajram Rexhepi (born 3 June 1954) is a Kosovar politician who is the former Interior Minister of the Republic of Kosovo and a member of the Kosovo Assembly. He was also the first elected post-war Prime Minister of Kosovo. He is a member of the second largest political party in Kosovo, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).^[1]

Early life and education

Rexhepi was born in Mitrovica, Province of Kosovo on 3 June 1954. He graduated from the University of Prishtina and completed his postgraduate studies at the University of Zagreb in 1985.

Career

Rexhepi spent most of his career working as a surgeon and achieved fame as the best surgeon for circumcisions in the Mitrovica region. During the 1999 Kosovo War, Rexhepi joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and spent three months serving as a field doctor. He served as mayor of the Albanian section of Mitrovica, working with United Nations and NATO peacekeepers to implement ideas to diminish the civil unrest.^[2] As Serbs and Albanians had broken off all dialogue, Rexhepi offered to give up his position in favour of a UN administrator, but Serbs rejected this proposal.

In the general elections of November 2001 in Kosovo, Rexhepi's party won 25.7 percent of the votes, second only to Ibrahim Rugova's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), and Rexhepi was appointed prime minister by the Assembly of Kosovo on 4 March 2002. In the following general elections, held on 24 October 2004, the Democratic Party of Kosovo came second and won 30 seats in the parliament. On 1 Apr 2010 Rexhepi was appointed Minister of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, replacing Zenun Pajaziti. On 22 February 2011 the Assembly confirmed Rexhepi in his post within the new Cabinet led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi ^[3]

References

1. "Bajram Rexhepi - Prime Minister of Kosovo". Setimes. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2010.
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/18/world/shock-of-kosovo-violence-may-prove-incentive-for-peace.html?pagewanted=2
3. "Composition of new cabinet government of the Republic of Kosovo, led by Prime Minister Hashim Thaci" kryeministri-ks.com 22 February 2011 Link retrieved 23 February 2011