Riza Halimi ( sr-cyr, Риза Халими; born 16 September 1947) is a Serbian politician. An ethnic

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

, he was the president of the

Party for Democratic Action The Party for Democratic Action or Democratic Action Party (, abbr. PVD; , abbr. PDD) is a political party in Serbia, representing the Albanian ethnic minority. It is currently led by Shaip Kamberi. History At the latest legislative elec ...

from its foundation until 2018, and now serves as the honorary president of the party.

Life

After his education as a

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...

, he started teaching physics in high school. In March 2000, he was sentenced to three months in prison, and to a one-year

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

sentence for obstructing a police officer from performance of his duties on at a protest by the citizens of

Preševo Preševo ( sr-Cyrl, Прешево, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the Pčinja District of southern Serbia. As of the 2022 census, the municipality has a population of 33,449 inhabitants. It is the southernmost town in Central Serbia a ...

over the Drenica massacre. He was elected a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

three times. He was the president of the assembly of the municipality of Preševo. He was the only member of the Coalition of Albanians of the

Preševo Valley The Preševo Valley (; ) is a geopolitical region in southern Serbia, along the border with Kosovo. The valley geographically includes municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, and politically also Medveđa. It is home to most of the Albanian ...

in the assembly from 2008 and 2012. In April 2013, he supported the signing of the Brussels Agreement between

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and

Kosovo Kosovo, officially the Republic of Kosovo, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe with International recognition of Kosovo, partial diplomatic recognition. It is bordered by Albania to the southwest, Montenegro to the west, Serbia to the ...

. In the

2014 Serbian parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Serbia on 16 March 2014, with nineteen electoral lists competing for 250 members of the National Assembly. The election was called early, after tensions in the coalition led by the ruling Serbian Progressive ...

, his Party for Democratic Action won two seats in Parliament. His Party for Democratic Action formed a parliamentary club together with the

Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak The Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak (, , SDAS) is a political party in Serbia, representing the Bosniak ethnic minority concentrated in Sandžak region. History The Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak (SDA) was founded on 29 July ...

. In 2018, he stepped down as the president of the party, and now serves as the honorary president.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halimi, Riza 1947 births Living people Members of the National Assembly (Serbia) Party for Democratic Action politicians 20th-century Serbian educators Serbian physicists Albanians in Serbia People from Preševo