Berisha: Kurti's interference in the elections in Presevo and Bujanovac was a mistake, it caused division

Demo Berisha, the President of the “Matica Albanaca” in Serbia, says that Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti attempted to directly influence the local elections in Presevo and Bujanovac, but that this once again proved to be a mistake as it divided the voters. He also states that Kurti's desire to control Albanians in the region and beyond is turning out to be catastrophic.

“He is trying to partially copy Mr. Rama, as we see what Rama is doing with Albanians in other countries, specifically in Greece and Italy. However, it has shown that Albin Kurti has completely divided the voters in these local elections, which also had low turnout and many participants. In Presevo, it is evident that Ardita Sinani will form the municipal government and will have a majority in the Presevo parliament, while in Bujanovac, the winner is Mr. Arber Pajaziti. So, we will have two towns in a completely different light: we will surely have further influence of Kurti in Presevo, but he will completely lose influence in Bujanovac, as his party is the third strongest among the Albanian parties,” Berisha told Kosovo Online.

Commenting on the victory in Presevo of the Party for Democratic Action list, led by Ardita Sinani, a political advisor to Albin Kurti, Berisha says that “it was certainly not Sinani who won, but Kurti,” but also that in Presevo, the Party for Democratic Action won only 11 mandates, while they expected much more.

“It is known that this is Kurti's list, not that of Shaip Kamberi, to whose party, the Party for Democratic Action, Sinani belongs, because Shaip Kamberi held the final convention with both candidates, Mrs. Sinani from Presevo and Mr. Ragmi Mustafa from Bujanovac, in Pristina, not in the Presevo Valley', neither in Presevo nor in Bujanovac. This indicated the continuation of Albin Kurti’s policy of interfering in regional elections. He did the same in North Macedonia and tried it in Albania as well. And he created a new division in the politics of 'the Presevo Valley'. We have an extremely interesting situation where Liburn Aliu, the Minister of Infrastructure in Albin Kurti’s government, who is originally from Presevo, publicly stated that this was a wrong move,” Berisha notes.

He believes that the coalition that will form around Arber Pajaziti will govern in Bujanovac and that this municipal structure will turn towards Belgrade, not Pristina.

“In Bujanovac, Albin Kurti's list, led by candidate Ragmi Mustafa from Kamberi’s Party for Democratic Action, experienced a fiasco. Kamberi was the mayor of Bujanovac for two terms, he is from there, and now among Albanian parties, he is the last. Albanians living in the Republic of Serbia recognized, and the party led by Mr. Pajaziti demonstrated, that citizens care about living normally and in conditions that are actually offered by the Republic of Serbia, not what Mr. Kurti offers,” Berisha said.