Kaqusha Jashari (' Fejzullahu; 16 August 1946 – 6 May 2025) was a Kosovan politician and engineer. She was a member of the Assembly of Kosovo on the Democratic Party of Kosovo list from 2007 onwards. From 1986 until November 1988, she and Azem Vllasi were the two leading Kosovo politicians. In November 1988, they were both dismissed in the " anti-bureaucratic revolution" because of their unwillingness to accept the constitutional amendments curbing Kosovo's autonomy, and were replaced by proxies of

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

, the leader of the

League of Communists of Serbia The League of Communists of Serbia (, abbr. SKS), known as the Communist Party of Serbia (, abbr. KPS) until 1952, was the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Serbia, political party of Socialist Republic of Serbia, Serbia from 19 ...

at the time.

Early life

Jashari was born in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

, received her primary and secondary education in Kamenica,

Gjilan Gjilan ( sq-definite, Gjilani) or Gnjilane ( sr-Cyrl, Гњилане) is the third most populous city in Kosovo and it serves as both a municipality and the administrative center of the District of Gjilan, Gjilan District. According to the 2024 ...

and

, while she started the Faculty of Civil Engineering in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and completed it in

. She was the daughter of Halil Fejzullahu, a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

soldier from the village of Tugjec in Kamenica. The family had an apartment in Bulevar kralja Aleksandra,

, which Jashari lived in after her father's death, although Radmila Vuličević from Pristina claims to be the legal owner. She was the sister of former

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thr ...

manager and player Petrit Fejzula.

Politics

In May 1988, Jashari replaced Azem Vllasi as the President of the Provincial Committee of the League of Communists of Kosovo. It seems that Serbia "accepted" her as it was said at the time it that her mother was Montenegrin. From 17 to 21 October, Albanians held protests throughout Kosovo against the changing of status of the

SAP Kosovo The Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo, sh-Latn-Cyrl, Socijalistička Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo, Социјалистичка Аутономна Покрајина Косово, separator=" / "; ; . Also abbreviated as SAP Kosovo. referre ...

. On 17 November 1988, Jashari and Vllasi were forced to resign and Rahman Morina was elected President of the Provincial Committee on 27 January 1989 by the Presidium of the Provincial Committee. This sparked new protests by Albanian youths and workers. They were both dismissed because of their unwillingness to accept the constitutional amendments curbing Kosovo's autonomy, and were replaced by proxies of

, the leader of the

at the time. On 20 October 1990, Marko Orlandić and Jashari guested the gathering of Serbs and Montenegrins in

Kosovo Polje Kosovo Polje ( sr-Cyrl, Косово Поље, "Kosovo Field") or Fushë Kosova ( Albanian indefinite form: ''Fushë Kosovë''), is a town and municipality located in the District of Pristina in Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town o ...

, which was not met with positive reactions. She was the president of the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSDK) from 1991 until 2008, when she was succeeded by the former prime minister and

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an Albanians, ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Republic of Serbia (1992–2006), Republic of R ...

(KLA) guerilla leader

Agim Çeku Agim Çeku (, born 29 October 1960) is an ethnic Albanian politician from Kosovo, the former Kosovo Security Force, minister of Security Forces in Kosovo and formerly the Prime Minister of Kosovo, prime minister. Of military background, he was a ...

Death

Jashari died on 6 May 2025, at the age of 78.

Notes and references

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jashari, Kaqusha 1946 births 2025 deaths Democratic Party of Kosovo politicians Kosovan women in politics Yugoslav women in politics 20th-century women politicians Prime ministers of Kosovo Kosovan engineers League of Communists of Kosovo politicians People from Skenderaj Yugoslav Albanians Politicians from Mitrovica, Kosovo Ex officio members of the Presidency of the 13th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia Members of the Central Committee of the 13th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia