Vujinovic: Perparim Rama would not be able to match Kurti

Security studies researcher Nikola Vujinovic said that the current Mayor of Pristina, Perparim Rama, would not stop the Democratic League of Kosovo's (LDK) decline and would not be able to match Kosovo's caretaker Prime Minister and Self-Determination leader Albin Kurti because, given his European political sensibilities, he would not be able to engage in the "dirty fight" that Kurti does.

Vujinovic told Kosovo Online that Rama is the third most influential figure in the LDK, after party leader Lumir Abdixhiku and Vjosa Osmani.

"He is the third man in the LDK. After Lumir Abdixhiku and Vjosa Osmani comes Perparim Rama, but the fact is that he holds that position because he is the Mayor of Pristina and manages a budget of 150 million euros. He has indeed clashed with the central government precisely in his capacity as Mayor of Pristina," he said.

In his opinion, the question of who will lead the LDK is less important than what the LDK has become today.

"The LDK is in free fall. It is drifting and no longer knows what its core idea is. They tried to stop that decline by bringing Vjosa Osmani back, but they failed. I'm not sure Rama is the person who can stop that decline," Vujinovic said.

According to him, the party's founders should determine who the candidates are that could lead the LDK, rather than relying on "familiar faces," as was the case with Vjosa Osmani.

As he pointed out, Perparim Rama has European political sensibilities and does not belong to the political culture of Kosovo politicians.

"For that reason, he is not a good opponent for Kurti, because he simply cannot fight dirty," our interlocutor added.

He said that in recent days a campaign against Rama has become apparent because Self-Determination sees him as the LDK's future leader.

"It is obvious that Self-Determination sees him as the future leader of the LDK, which is why we are seeing attacks from the Pristina Municipal Assembly claiming that he is not really an LDK representative, but that the PDK is keeping him in power and that, through the city administration, he is accommodating the PDK. We have also seen attacks from Basha and other high-ranking Self-Determination members accusing him of being a criminal, a drug addict, and so on," Vujinovic said.

He added that all of this suggests Self-Determination fears that Rama could become the LDK's leader.

However, Vujinovic believes Rama cannot stop the LDK's "free fall" or help the party return to its former prominence.

"What they need is change, a complete change of ideas, and finally to realize that they are in the opposition, because it seems to me that even today, five years after moving into opposition, they still have not accepted that reality," our interlocutor said.