President of the Republic of Kosovo Presidenti i Republikës së Kosovës (Albanian) Председник Pепубликe Косовa (Serbian) |
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Presidential Seal
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Appointer | Assembly of Kosovo |
Term length | Five years, renewable once |
Inaugural holder | Ibrahim Rugova |
Formation | 4 March 2002 |
Website | president-ksgov.net |
The President of the Republic of Kosovo (Albanian: Presidenti i Republikës së Kosovës, Serbian: Председник Pепублике Косовa/Predsednik Republike Kosova) is the head of state of the Republic of Kosovo.
The Kosovo President is elected indirectly, by the Assembly of Kosovo, in a secret ballot by a two thirds majority of all deputies of the Assembly. If no candidate achieves a two thirds majority, at the third ballot the candidate who receives a simple majority is elected. The vote in the Assembly should take place no later than a month before the end of the incumbent President’s term of office. He or she serves for a five years, once renewable term.
The first post-war president, who served until his death in January 2006, was Ibrahim Rugova. His successor was Fatmir Sejdiu. When Sejdiu resigned from his post on 27 September 2010, Jakup Krasniqi served as acting president. On 22 February 2011, Behgjet Pacolli was elected as a president of Kosovo, which was quickly evaluated as unconstitutional move. On 4 April 2011, Behgjet Pacolli stepped down and it was decided that another candidate would be elected to serve for up to a year. A constitutional reform will be undertaken to allow for a popular vote for the president in 2013. On 7 April 2011, Atifete Jahjaga, Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, with the rank of Major general, was elected as President.