Kosovo Transitional Council


The Kosovo Transitional Council,, was an advisory body that existed in Kosovo between July 1999 and November 2001 during the period that the United Nations was directly responsible for the governance of Kosovo. The council was replaced by the Assembly of Kosovo following elections held in November 2001.

First transitional council (July 1999 to January 2000)

A twelve member transitional council was formed on 16 July 1999. Chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, the council was the described as being the highest political consultative body within the United Nations administration. Its purpose was to offer the main political parties and ethnic communities in Kosovo an opportunity for direct input into the decision-making process of UNMIK. The first meeting of the council was at the former MUP headquarters in Pristina and subsequent meetings were held at UNMIK headquarters.

Membership

The membership of the first transitional council was as follows:
NameRole
Bernard KouchnerSpecial Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo
Ex-officio chairman of the council
Ibrahim RugovaRepresentative of the Democratic League of Kosovo
VacantRepresentative of the Democratic League of Kosovo
Hashim ThaçiRepresentative of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Xhavit HalitiRepresentative of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Rexhep QosjaRepresentative of the United Democratic Movement
Mehmet HajriziRepresentative of the United Democratic Movement
Veton SurroiIndependent representative of the Albanian community
Blerim ShalaIndependent representative of the Albanian community
Bishop ArtemijeRepresentative of the Serbian Orthodox Church
Momcilo TrajkovicRepresentative of the Serbian Resistance Movement
Numan BalicRepresentative of the Party of Democratic Action
Sezair ShaipiRepresentative of Turkish People's Party
Mike Jackson
Klaus Reinhardt		Commander of the Kosovo Force
Observer

Second transitional council (January 2000 to November 2001)

In January 2000, Joint Interim Administrative Structure was established. The membership of the transitional council was expanded to 35 and it assumed the role of a deliberative assembly. A transitional cabinet, known as the Interim Administrative Council, with eight members, four of which were appointed by UNMIK and four by political parties represented in the transitional council was also established at this time. Sessions of the council were chaired by the SRSG or one of their deputies.

Structure

The council had 36 members and would meet on a bi-weekly basis. It had four committees, each made up of 15 members; Tolerance and Protection of Local Communities, Detainees and Missing Persons, Economic Affairs and Education.

Membership

The membership of the second transitional council was as follows:
;Members of the Interim Administrative Council:
;Representatives of ethnic Albanian political parties:
;Representatives of ethnic minority communities:
  • Randjel Nojkic - SNC Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija
  • Dragan Velic - SNC Serbian National Council of Kosovo and Metohija
  • Vacant - Serbian National Council - Mitrovica
  • Numan Balic - Party of Democratic Action
  • Asim Puljic - Zaman NGO
  • Sezair Shaipi - Turkish People's Party
  • Vacant - Additional Turkish representative
  • Hadji Zulfi Mergja - Roma community leader
;Representatives of religious communities:
;Representatives of civil society