Driton Çaushi

Driton Çaushi (born 11 October 1978) is a politician in Kosovo. He served in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo from 2016 to 2019, initially as a member of Vetëvendosje (VV) and later with the Social Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSD).

Early life and private career

Çaushi was born to a Kosovo Albanian family in Gjakova, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He has taken post-graduate studies at the Free University of Berlin and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in Tirana, Albania, and has worked at the University of Pristina's faculty of agriculture and veterinary medicine.[1][2]

Politician

Early years (2013–16)

Çaushi appeared in the second position on Vetëvendosje's list for the Gjakova city assembly in the 2013 Kosovan local elections. Elections in Kosovo are held under open list proportional representation; Çaushi finished third among the party's candidates and was not elected when the list won two mandates.[3][4] Online sources do not clarify if he later entered the assembly as a replacement member.

He was given the seventeenth position on VV's list in the 2014 Kosovan parliamentary election, finished in seventeenth place, and once again missed election as the list won sixteen seats.[5] He was a deputy chair of the party following the election. In November 2015, he called for a proposed border agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and Montenegro to be annulled given a lack of transparency in the process.[6]

Vetëvendosje (2016–18)

Çaushi received a parliamentary mandate in May 2016 as a replacement for Besnik Bislimi, who had resigned.[7] Vetëvendosje served in opposition in this period. In August 2016, Çaushi disrupted a parliamentary commission on the border with Montenegro by opening a tear gas canister.[8][9]

He again appeared in the seventeenth position on VV's list in the 2017 parliamentary election, finished sixteenth, and was re-elected when the list won thirty-two seats.[10] VV remained in opposition in the new parliament.

Çaushi was VV's candidate for mayor of Gjakova in the 2017 local elections, held four months after the parliamentary election, and finished third. He supported incumbent mayor Mimoza Kusari Lila of The Alternative in the second round of balloting; Kusari Lila was defeated by Ardian Gjini of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).[11]

Social Democratic Party (2018–19)

Vetëvendosje experienced a significant split after the 2017 local elections. In March 2018, Çaushi was one of twelve parliamentarians to leave the party and form the Group of the Independent Deputies (GDP).[12] Two months later, the GDP merged into the Social Democratic Party, which had not won any seats in the 2017 assembly election.[13] In this period, Çaushi was a member of the assembly committee on education, science, technology, culture, youth, sports, innovation, and entrepreneurship.[14]

The PSD contested the 2019 parliamentary election in a partnership with the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. This arrangement did not work out well for the PSD. Çaushi was given the hundredth position on their combined list, finished sixty-first, and was not elected when the list won only thirteen seats.[15][16]

Since 2019

In 2021, Çaushi was given a one-year and two months suspended sentence for having opened a tear gas canister five years earlier in a committee meeting on the border with Montenegro.[17]

Electoral record

Local (Gjakova)
2017 Kosovan local elections: Mayor of Gjakova
CandidatePartyFirst roundSecond round
Votes%Votes%
Ardian GjiniAlliance for the Future of Kosovo17,21939.8821,99953.46
Mimoza Kusari Lila (incumbent)The Alternative13,86032.1019,15246.54
Driton ÇaushiLevizja Vetëvendosje!5,55712.87
Ramadan HotiDemocratic Party of Kosovo3,5068.12
Bekim ErmeniDemocratic League of Kosovo1,5823.66
Fazli HoxhaInitiative for Kosovo9862.28
Edmond DushiNew Kosovo Alliance4631.07
Total43,173100.0041,151100.00
Source: [18][19]

References
  1. Periudha e pestë Legjislative (17.07.2014 - 10.05.2017) – Driton Çaushi, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 October 2023.
  2. Periudha e gjashtë Legjislative (03.08.2017 - 22.08.2019) – Driton Çaushi, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 October 2023.
  3. Zgjedhjet për Kuvende Komunale 2013 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat – Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve sipas komunave, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 9.
  4. Zgjedhjet për Kuvende Komunale 2013 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat – Rezultatet e subjekteve sipas vendvotimeve, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 3.
  5. ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2014 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 6, accessed 14 January 2022.
  6. "Kosovo opposition parties differ on proposal to probe Montenegro border," British Broadcasting European Monitoring European, 27 November 2015 (Source: Excerpt from report by Kosovo Albanian privately-owned newspaper Koha Ditore on 25 November 2015).
  7. "Çaushi do të jetë deputeti i ri i Vetëvendosjes", Radio Kosova e Lirë, 27 May 2016, accessed 21 October 2023.
  8. Sylejman Kllokoqi, "Kosovo opposition launches tear gas over border deal," Associated Press Newswires, 9 August 2016.
  9. "Protests in Kosovo ahead of parliament's vote on border deal," Reuters News, 9 August 2016.
  10. ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e kandidatëve sipas subjekteve të renditur sipas numrit të votave), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 24.
  11. "Çaushi në mbështetje të Kusari-Lilës, thotë se qeverisja e AAK-së nuk bënë të kthehet në Gjakovë", Telegrafi, November 2017, accessed 21 October 2023.
  12. "Grup i ri parlamentar prej 12 deputetëve të Vetëvendosjes", Radio Evropa e Lirë, 14 March 2018, accessed 21 October 2023.
  13. "Kaqusha Jashari: Nga 9 maji PSD-në e drejton Grupi i Deputetëve të Pavarur", Epoka e Re, 4 May 2018, accessed 21 October 2023.
  14. Periudha e gjashtë Legjislative (03.08.2017 - 22.08.2019) – Komisioni për Arsim, Shkencë, Teknologji, Kulturë, Rini, Sporte, Inovacion dhe Ndërmarrësi, Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 21 October 2023.
  15. ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2019 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve (renditja si në fletëvotim)), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 15, accessed 2 February 2022.
  16. "Ishin, por nuk janë më: Deputetët që nuk morën vota të mjaftueshme për të qenë sërish në Kuvendin e Kosovës", Telegrafi, 7 November 2019, accessed 21 October 2023.
  17. "Ish-deputeti Driton Çaushi dënohet me 1 vit e 2 muaj burgim me kusht për gazin lotsjellës në Kuvend", Telegrafi, 12 October 2021, accessed 21 October 2023.
  18. ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë) – Rezultatet e kandidatëve për Kryetar Komune, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 3, accessed 12 January 2022.
  19. ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i dytë) – Rezultatet e kandidatëve për Kryetar Komune, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 2, accessed 12 January 2022.
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