ANKARA
Member of Albanian Parliament and minister of Public Works, Transport and Communication till September 2013, Sokol Olldashi, 40, died Wednesday night as his car fell over a cliff while traveling to capital Tirana from Elbasan city, officials say.
High speed and heavy rain were the causes of the accident, police sources said. The crash happened at Kerraba hills around 21:20 (local time) according to sources quoted by Albanian agency “ATA”. The car in which the member of parliament was travelling fell over a 50 meter abyss.
The Albanian Parliament has postponed a session planned to be held on Thursday. At 11:00 tributes will be paid to Sokol Olldashi at the Parliament building while at 14:00 his body will be buried with state honors.
Sokol Olldashi, leading figure of Democratic Party was born on December 17, 1972 in Durres, Albania. He was a member of Albanian Parliament since 2001 while held the post of Interior Minister from 2005 to 2007 and post of Public Works, Transport and Communication Minister from 2007 to 2013. In 2007, he ran for Tirana mayor but lost against Albanian actual Prime Minister Edi Rama, while after Democratic Party’s defeat in June's Albanian general elections, Olldashi ran to take the leadership of the party, but lost in favor of Lulzim Basha.
Sokol Olldashi was married and father of two children.
