Political Career
His political career began in the 1990s. He was the chair of the Central Election Commission in the first multiparty elections in 1991 and member of the Presidential Council (1991). During 1992–1996 he was engaged in the civil society by being also chair of the Board of the Albanian Center of Human Rights (1994–1996). In 1996, he joined the Socialist Party and was elected its Secretary General (1996–1997).
In the anticipated parliamentary elections of June 1997, Meidani was elected member of the parliament in the Albanian Assembly. After the elections, won by the left coalition and headed by the Socialist Party, on July 24, 1997, with the proposal of the SP, the Albanian Assembly elected Meidani the President of Albania. Meidani served as the third President until 2002, with Petrit Ago as his counselor.
Meidani was succeeded in the presidency by Alfred Moisiu in 2002.
In the 2005 Socialist Party Leadership Convention, which was to designate a successor to Fatos Nano, he was defeated by the current PS chairman Edi Rama. Meidani is currently a member of the Club of Madrid.
Rexhep Meidani is also a member of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy advisory board.
Read more about this topic: Rexhep Meidani
Famous quotes related to political career:
“No wonder that, when a political career is so precarious, men of worth and capacity hesitate to embrace it. They cannot afford to be thrown out of their life’s course by a mere accident.”
—James Bryce (1838–1922)