Isa Mustafa (; born 15 May 1951) is a retired Kosovar politician. Mustafa was the

mayor of Pristina The Mayor of Pristina (Albanian language, Albanian: Prishtinë; Serbian language, Serbian: Приштина or Priština) is the head of the City of Pristina (capital of Kosovo). The mayor acts on behalf of the city and performs the executive func ...

from December 2007 to December 2013 and served as the

prime minister of Kosovo The prime minister of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Kryeministri i Republikës së Kosovës, sr, Премијер Републике Косова, Premijer Republike Kosova) is the head of government of Kosovo. The prime minister and the Gover ...

between December 2014 and September 2017. He was the leader of the

Democratic League of Kosovo The Democratic League of Kosovo ( sq, Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës, LDK) is the oldest and one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. At the legislative elections held on 24 October 2004 the party won 45.4% of the popular vote and 47 out ...

(LDK) between 2010 and 2021.

Early life

Mustafa was born in the village of Prapashtica, in the Gollak Highlands of the

District of Pristina The District of Pristina ( sq, Rajoni i Prishtinës, sr, Приштински округ, Prištinski okrug) is a district in Kosovo. Its seat is the capital city of Pristina. It consists of eight municipalities and 298 villages. According to th ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

on 15 May 1951, to

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

parents. He finished primary and high school in

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

, and attended the

University of Pristina The University of Pristina ( sq, Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public university located in Pristina, Kosovo. It is the institution that emerged after the disestablishment of the University of Pristina (1969–99) as a result of the K ...

in the Faculty of Economics, where he obtained a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

and a PhD. In 1974 he began his professional work, as an examiner at the University of Pristina.

Political career

Isa Mustafa began his political career in the early 1980s, when he became the head of the municipal government of Pristina, from 1984 to 1988. In the 1990s, as

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

started to

break up A relationship breakup, breakup, or break-up is the termination of a relationship. The act is commonly termed "dumping omeone in slang when it is initiated by one partner. The term is less likely to be applied to a married couple, where a bre ...

, Mustafa became the Minister of Economy and Finances of the government of the Republic of Kosova, in exile, headed by

Bujar Bukoshi Bujar Bukoshi (born 13 May 1947 in Suva Reka, FPR Yugoslavia, now Kosovo was the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Kosova from 1991 to 2000. He served as the minister of Healthcare in Kosovo. He graduated from the University of B ...

. During this time, an arrest warrant for Mustafa was issued within Yugoslavia – which did not become international, making it possible for him to work in Western Europe. Mustafa did not apply for any

political asylum The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another enti ...

, and was able to return to Kosovo anytime if needed. After the

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

ended on 1999, he returned home, but returned to politics only in 2006 as a High Political Advisor of the then

President of Kosovo The president of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Kosovës, ), is the head of state and chief representative of the de facto Republic of Kosovo in the country and abroad. The president is elected indirectly, by the Assem ...

Fatmir Sejdiu Fatmir Sejdiu (; born 23 October 1951) is a Kosovar politician. He was the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and was the 1st President of Republic of Kosovo. Early life and education Fatmir Sejdiu was born on October 23, 1951, in t ...

. In December 2007, he became the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

in local elections, beating the vice president of the

Democratic Party of Kosovo The Democratic Party of Kosovo ( sq, Partia Demokratike e Kosovës; abbr. ''PDK'') is one of the largest political parties in Kosovo. It was originally a social-democratic party coming out of the demilitarised Kosovo Liberation Army after th ...

(PDK) and one of the ex-commanders of the

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the ...

(UÇK),

Fatmir Limaj Fatmir Limaj (born 4 February 1971), is a Kosovo-Albanian politician. He is the leader of ''Nisma për Kosovën''. Limaj served as Minister of Transport and Telecommunication in the government of the Republic of Kosova. He was known as "Çelik ...

. He won a second term as Mayor of Pristina in November 2009. On 7 November 2010, he became the leader of the

, beating Fatmir Sejdiu in the party leadership election by 235 votes to 124. On 1 December 2013, he lost re-election to the position of Mayor of Pristina, in what was seen as a major upset, to upcoming politician

Shpend Ahmeti Shpend Ali Ahmeti (born 18 April 1978, Pristina) is a Kosovo Albanian politician who served as the Mayor of Pristina. He was leader of the New Spirit Party, which merged into Vetëvendosje in 2011, and served as their vice chairman. However, afte ...

. The upset was especially dramatic seeing as it happened in what had been historically known as a Democratic League of Kosovo stronghold. On 8 December 2014, he became the Prime Minister of Kosovo in a coalition with the

. With a PhD in

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

, he claimed his government would be focused on the economic development of the country. While addressing the

Assembly of Kosovo The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Kosovës; sr, Скупштина Републике Косово, Skupština Republike Kosovo) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly electe ...

on 22 September 2015 regarding an agreement with Serbia on autonomy for Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority and another agreement defining the border between Kosovo and Montenegro, Mustafa was pelted with eggs by opposition Assembly lawmakers. He later continued his address while being shielded with an umbrella by his bodyguards. On 10 May 2017, Mustafa lost a vote of no-confidence and decided not to stand in the next election. Instead he nominated

Avdullah Hoti Avdullah Hoti (born 4 February 1976) is a Kosovan politician, who served as the prime minister of Kosovo from 3 June 2020 until 22 March 2021. He previously served as the minister of Finance of Kosovo between 2014 and 2017 in the PDK/ LDK coali ...

as the Democratic League candidate for prime minister. Mustafa stayed on as Prime Minister until his successor

Ramush Haradinaj Ramush Haradinaj (; born 3 July 1968) is a Kosovo Albanian politician, leader of the AAK party, and the third prime minister of Kosovo. He is a former officer and leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and previously served as Prime Minister ...

was elected by parliament in September 2017 following a

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. On 3 August 2019, Isa Mustafa was re-elected as leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo for the third time. On 10 July 2020, Mustafa announced on his Facebook page that he was diagnosed with

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On 1 August 2020, he revealed on his Facebook page that he had fully recovered from the disease. On 15 February 2021, Mustafa announced he would be standing down as the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo after a poor result in the

2021 elections Many elections occurred in 2021. The National Democratic Institute maintains calendar of elections around the world * 2021 United Nations Security Council election * 2021 national electoral calendar * 2021 local electoral calendar Africa * 2021 ...

. He officially resigned at the LDK convention on 14 March 2021, and was succeeded by Lumir Abdixhiku, who named Mustafa as the honorary president of LDK the same day.

Government

Personal life

Mustafa is married to Qevsere Mustafa and has three children, two sons and a daughter.

Notes and references

Notes: References:

External links

Official website

website of the Prime Minister's Office
, - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Mustafa, Isa 1951 births Democratic League of Kosovo politicians Kosovan Muslims Kosovo Albanians Living people Mayors of Pristina Prime ministers of Kosovo University of Pristina alumni