Muja: Time for Haradinaj to step down from the leadership position in AAK

Professor of Political Science Basri Muja stated that it is time for the president of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, to step down from that position due to poor election results over the past year, and that Ardian Gjini, whose candidacy for party president has already been announced, is a good choice.

Muja told Kosovo Online that Haradinaj will not withdraw from the political scene after his resignation and, as he added, it is possible that he will continue to serve as the “unofficial” president of AAK.

“It has long been said that Haradinaj would step away from the political scene after these elections. I think this is more of a transition within the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and that it is time for him to step aside. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo won barely just over five percent. I am certain that in the next elections it will have trouble reaching that five percent needed to enter parliament. I assume this is more for tactical reasons and I am not sure whether Haradinaj will truly withdraw from the political scene. I am afraid that he will continue to be the unofficial president of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo”, Muja said.

As he points out, the mayor of Djakovica and member of the AAK Presidency, Ardian Gjini, could be a good party leader, but that the party’s main problem is that it is not widespread across the whole of Kosovo.

“The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo is a regional party, and Gjini is a well known politician both at the central and local levels who has already served two terms as mayor of Djakovica. He is educated and can be a good president. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo has other problems, and that is expansion to other regions of Kosovo, because being based in only one region is a disadvantage”, Muja added.

According to him, new elections would be “political death” for AAK, because it would fail to pass the threshold required to enter the Kosovo Assembly, so together with other parties it will seek to find the best solution for the next President of Kosovo.

“I think that Haradinaj and his party are interested in finding a solution that would prevent early elections because they could be political death for that party. I do not believe that this party could pass the five percent threshold, and the Alliance is interested in finding a solution that would save face”, Muja concluded.