Jusuf Zejnullahu (born 9 February 1944) is a former Kosovar politician.

Background and early life

Zejnullahu was born in

Democratic Federal Yugoslavia Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, also known as Democratic Federative Yugoslavia (DF Yugoslavia or DFY), was a provisional state established during World War II on 29 November 1943 through the Second Session of the Anti-Fascist Council for the Natio ...

. He was active in Kosovo politics throughout the 1980s, and occupied a number of important economic positions within 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 ...

autonomic province and

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

as a whole. On 14 April 1989 he was elected a member of the Central Committee and the Presidency of the 13th Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia from Kosovo.

Prime Minister of Kosovo

On 4 December 1989 Zejnullahu was elected

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

(Chairman of the Executive Council) of the

Socialist Autonomous Province of 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 ...

, then part of

Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

. On 3 April 1990 he and a number of other ethnic Albanian members of the Provincial Executive Council, including one of the two vice-premiers, offered their resignations, in protest at

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 ...

’s measures in the region, and the handling of the separatist unrest by the local Communist Party of Kosovo. At the 23 May session the Kosovo Assembly rejected these resignations, and the officials continued in their posts.

Declaration of Secession

Zejnullahu was later involved in the declaration of secession of July 2, 1990, after which Kosovo's Assembly and Executive Council were dissolved. He was later designated Prime Minister-in-exile of Kosovo's shadow provincial government, and arrested for his pro-independence activities.

Emigration to the United States

In 1999 he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where he remains.Former Kosovar leader rejoices from afar
'' St. Petersburg Times'', February 19, 2008

References

Living people 1944 births People from Medveđa League of Communists of Kosovo politicians Yugoslav Albanians Date of birth missing (living people) 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 {{Kosovo-politician-stub