Romani Initiative
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Romani Initiative (RI) is a political party in
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 ...
representing the interests of the
Roma community Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paulo ...
. The party won a single seat in the
2021 Kosovan parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo on 14 February 2021. The results were a landslide victory for Vetëvendosje led by Albin Kurti and its coalition partner, Vjosa Osmani, former speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, parlia ...
. Its leader is Gazmen Salijević.


Formation

The Romani Initiative was established in Gračanica prior to the 2021 parliamentary election. Its stated purpose is to "break the cycle of discrimination and poverty that has affected the Roma community for many years." It promotes "the inclusion of Roma in all aspects of social life in Kosovo, and especially for active participation in the political process."


History

The Romani Initiative was initially reported as having won two of the ten seats reserved for non-Serb minority communities in the 2021 parliamentary election, emerging as the largest Roma party in Kosovo. Other Roma parties subsequently alleged that the RI's result was manipulated in conjunction with the Serb List, and in March 2021 the Elections Complaints Panel annulled more than eight hundred votes cast for the party, reducing its assembly representation to one seat. Salijević described this decision as unjust, saying that the RI had no agreement and no contact with the Serb List. On 1 April 2021, Salijević was appointed as deputy minister for communities and return in the Republic of Kosovo government. He continues to hold this role as of January 2024. The RI's delegate in the Republic of Kosovo assembly is Fadil Gashi. On 3 April 2021, several parliamentarians including Gashi absented themselves for the first two failed attempts to confirm
Vjosa Osmani Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu (born 17 May 1982) is a Kosovan jurist and politician serving as the sixth president of Kosovo since April 2021, having previously served as acting president from November 2020 to March 2021. She also served as Speaker of the ...
as the Republic of Kosovo's president. He and another minority list delegate appeared for the third vote, which provided sufficient quorum for Osmani to be elected."Vjosa Osmani elected Kosovo President"
''Prishtina Insight'', 4 April 2021, accessed 4 January 2024.


References

{{Kosovo political parties Political parties in Kosovo Political parties of minorities in Kosovo Romani political parties Political parties established in 2021