In Pristina, the Democratic League of Kosovo was founded, the first post-communist political party in Kosovo. It was the largest political party in Kosovo, which won the two parliamentary and presidential elections in Kosovo before the war (1992 and 1998) and the post-war parliamentary elections in Kosovo (2001–2004). The Democratic League of Kosovo was formed as a union of intellectuals and the people of Kosovo at a time when the Communist League of Kosovo was dissolving. The Democratic League of Kosovo was committed to an independent, democratic, and free Kosovo. The initiative to create the Democratic League of Kosovo emerged from a group of intellectuals, writers, and journalists in Kosovo. The initiating group expanded in October-November 1989 with other individuals, such as doctors, professors, lawyers, etc. In December 1989, the party’s program and statute were drafted, and at the founding assembly on December 23, 1989, the party documents were approved, and the leadership of the Democratic League of Kosovo was elected with the following composition: Ibrahim Rugova (president), Jusuf Buxhovi (secretary), and members of the presidency: Fehmi Agani, Bujar Bukoshi, Ali Aliu, Nekibe Kelmendi, and Mehmet Kraja. On December 25, 1989, the request for the registration of the Democratic League of Kosovo as a political party was sent to the Federal Ministry of Justice of former Yugoslavia, which registered the Democratic League of Kosovo as the first post-communist party in Kosovo. From its founding until January 2006, Ibrahim Rugova was the chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo. After his death, Dr. Fatmir Sejdiu was elected chairman (2007–2011). Meanwhile, from 2011 until 2021, the chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo was Isa Mustafa, and from 2021 until now, the chairman is Lumir Abdixhiku. From its founding until the liberation of Kosovo (1989–1999), the Democratic League of Kosovo was more of a popular movement than a political party, politically leading the resistance against Serbian occupation and institutionalizing the Albanian resistance system in Kosovo with the institutions created in all fields. After the 1999 war, the Democratic League of Kosovo was profiled as a center-right political party, close to the ideology of European right-wing parties (European People’s Parties). (In the photo: Moment from the founding assembly of the party, December 23, 1989.)
Text: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Kosovo – Vol. II , Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prishtina, 2018, page 971–972.
Photo: © https://www.radiandradi.com/historia-e-lidhjes-demokratike-te-kosoves-27-vjet-te-lidhjes-demokratike-te-kosoves/
Graphic processing: AHCF
