Fadil Geci

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Fadil Geci (born 19 March 1961) is a politician in Kosovo.[a] A member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the 1998–99 Kosovo War, Geci served in the Assembly of Kosovo from 2001 to 2007, at first as a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosovës, LDK) and later with the Democratic League of Dardania (Lidhja Demokratike e Dardanisë, LDD).

Early life and career[]

Geci was born in the village of Lausa (Albanian: Llaushê) in the municipality of Srbica (Albanian: Skenderaj), in what was then the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija in the People's Republic of Serbia, Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia. He holds a law degree.[1] He is the brother of .

Kosovo War[]

Geci was a member of the LDK presidency in the late 1990s. During the early period of the Kosovo War, he provided reports for the Albanian media on developments in Skenderaj. In a March 1998 report for a television station in Tirana, he said that there were food and medical shortages in the area and that Serbian snipers were "fir[ing] at anything that moves" in certain villages, including Llaushë.[2] He also provided reports for the Kosovo Information Centre, one of the parallel institutions established by the Kosovo Albanian community in its boycott of state institutions in the 1990s.[3][4][5] He relocated to Priština later in 1998; a news report indicates that he and several members of his family returned to Llaushê at around the end of October to reconstruct their home, which had been destroyed in prior bombardments.[6] The Kosovo War ended in 1999, and the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) was established as a provisional authority.

In 2018, Geci said that he had founded a KLA group called Hasan Prishtina with Adem Jashari and Sali Çeku at the beginning of the conflict and was a leader of its activities in Drenica. The existence of Hasan Prishtina had previously been questioned by other political figures in Kosovo, who argued that it had been invented retroactively as a means of securing pension payments from the Government of Kosovo.[7]

Politician[]

Geci's biographical entries on the Assembly of Kosovo website indicate that he served as deputy mayor of Skenderaj and as president of the municipality's directorate of health. It is not clear from online sources when he held these positions.[8][9]

Local elections were held in Kosovo in 2000 under the auspices of UNMIK. Geci appeared in the second position on the LDK's electoral list in Skenderaj and was elected to the municipal assembly when the list won four seats. The rival Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës, PDK) won a majority, and the LDK served in opposition.[10][11] Geci did not seek re-election in 2002.

Geci was reported to have risked a backlash from some members of his own community in February 2001, when he openly condemned a bomb attack that killed eleven members of Kosovo's Serb community. He was quoted as saying, "We had a meeting in the village and decided it was the worst, most cowardly thing what happened. We must find who did this. It would be easier to breathe freely and for the internationals to do their job if we do." He also said that he believed his life to be in danger from hardline elements the Albanian community, accusing Hashim Thaçi and his associates of being responsible for much of the ongoing violence in Kosovo. (Thaçi rejected this charge).[12]

Parliamentarian[]

Geci was elected to the Assembly of Kosovo in the 2001 parliamentary election.[13][14] The LDK won a convincing victory; Geci served as a supporter of the administration and was a member of the assembly's budget committee and emergency preparedness committee.[15]

Geci took part in a seven-member delegation to the United States of America in October 2002 to research American political institutions. At a meeting with journalists in Salt Lake City, he indicated his support for the impending American invasion of Iraq.[16]

In May 2003, Geci and PDK lawmaker fought each other in a hallway near the assembly chamber. The PDK blamed Geci for the confrontation and walked out of the assembly in protest.[17]

Geci appeared in the fourteenth position on the LDK's list in the 2004 parliamentary election and was re-elected when the list won forty-seven mandates.[18][19] The LDK remained the dominant force in Kosovo's coalition government after the election, and he continued to serve as an administration supporter. In this term, Geci was a member of the assembly's security committee.[20]

In October 2006, it was reported that Geci had physically assaulted Skender Zogaj, president of the municipal assembly of Kosovo Polje.[21]

The LDK became divided among different factions in the leadership battle that followed Ibrahim Rugova's death in 2006. In January 2007, Geci and five other members of the LDK's assembly group left the party to join the newly formed LDD.[22] He was not a candidate in the 2007 parliamentary election but instead ran for mayor of Skenderaj in the concurrent local elections, finishing a distant second. He ran for mayor again in the 2009 local elections with the same result and has not returned to active political life since this time.

Electoral record[]

Local[]

2009 Municipality of Skenderaj local election
Mayor of Skenderaj[23]
Candidate Party Votes %
Sami Lushtaku (incumbent) Democratic Party of Kosovo 25,017 85.02
Fadil Geci Democratic League of Dardania 3,171 10.78
Rushit Haliti Alliance for the Future of Kosovo 528 1.79
Abit Haziraj Green Party of Kosovo 390 1.33
Liridon Hoti Socialist Party of Kosovo 318 1.08
Total valid votes 29,424 100
2007 Municipality of Skenderaj local election
Mayor of Skenderaj[24]
Candidate Party Votes %
Sami Lushtaku Democratic Party of Kosovo 18,338 80.50
Fadil Geci Democratic League of Dardania 2,842 12.48
Basri Lushtaku New Kosovo Alliance 768 3.37
Rushit Haliti Independent 424 1.86
Kemail Shaqiri Alliance for the Future of Kosovo 407 1.79
Total valid votes 22,779 100

Notes[]

  1. ^ The political status of Kosovo is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008, it is formally recognised as an independent state by 97 UN member states (with another 15 recognising it at some point but then withdrawing recognition), while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory.

References[]

  1. ^ Periudha e parë Legjislative (17.11.2001 - 23.11.2004) – Fadil Geci, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 23 January 2022.
  2. ^ "Albanian TV reports 'very dramatic' situation in western Kosovo," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 18 March 1988 (Source: Albanian TV, Tirana, in Albanian 1900 gmt 16 Mar 98).
  3. ^ "Serbian forces, heavy artillery reinforce siege of Srbica," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 19 March 1998 (Source: Kosova Daily Report, Pristina, in English 17 Mar 98).
  4. ^ "Two Albanians reported seriously wounded by Serbian forces," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 23 April 1998 (Source: Kosova Daily Report, Pristina, in English 21 Apr 98).
  5. ^ "Serbs shell northern village - Kosovo Albanian report," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 22 July 1998 (Source: Kosovo Information Centre web site, Pristina, in English 20 Jul 98).
  6. ^ Sylvia Groult, "Kosovo paralysed by first snows," Agence France-Presse, 20 November 1998.
  7. ^ "Brigada enigmatike Hasan Prishtina, flet pjestari i saj Fadil Geci," Ekonomia Online, 17 August 2018, accessed 23 January 2022.
  8. ^ Periudha e parë Legjislative (17.11.2001 - 23.11.2004) – Fadil Geci, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 23 January 2022.
  9. ^ Periudha e dytë Legjislative – Fadil Geci (23.11.2004 - 12.12.2007), Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo accessed 23 January 2022.
  10. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVENDE KOMUNALE 2000 – Fletëvotimet dhe listat e kandidatëve (Skenderaj), Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve, accessed 21 January 2022.
  11. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVENDE KOMUNALE 2000 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Kandidatët e zgjedhur sipas subjekteve), Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve, accessed 21 January 2022.
  12. ^ Carlotta Gall, "Doing the Right Thing, in Kosovo's Heartland," The New York Times, 23 February 2001, p. 9.
  13. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVEND TË REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2001 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Kandidatët e zgjedhur sipas Subjekteve Politike), Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve, accessed 19 January 2022.
  14. ^ Periudha e parë Legjislative (17.11.2001 - 23.11.2004) – Fadil Geci, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 23 January 2022.
  15. ^ Periudha e parë Legjislative (17.11.2001 - 23.11.2004), Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 23 January 2022.
  16. ^ Brent Israelsen, "Kosovo Delegation Is Divided on Iraq," The Salt Like Tribune, 9 October 2002.
  17. ^ "Two ethnic Albanian lawmakers scuffle in Kosovo," Associated Press Newswires, 8 May 2003.
  18. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVENDIN E KOSOVËS 2004 – Fletëvotimi për Zgjedhjet për Kuvend të Kosovës 2004 (Lista e Kandidatëve për Zgjedhjet për Kuvend të Kosovës 2004), Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve, accessed 21 January 2022.
  19. ^ Periudha e dytë Legjislative – Fadil Geci (23.11.2004 - 12.12.2007), Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 23 January 2022.
  20. ^ Periudha e dytë Legjislative (23.11.2004 - 12.12.2007), Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 23 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Kosovo official sustains face injuries in attack by MP outside parliament," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 October 2006 (Source: Excerpt from report by Montenegrin Mina news agency).
  22. ^ "Six Kosovo Assembly members leave LDK to join Daci's Democratic League," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 January 2007 (Source: Text of report by Kosovo Albanian Kosovapress news agency website).
  23. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2009 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë), Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve, accessed 20 January 2022.
  24. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2007 – Fletëvotimet (Raundi i parë) and ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2007 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë), Komisioni Qendror i Zgjedhjeve, accessed 20 January 2022.
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