(Updated 14:05) - Memli Krasniqi was re-elected chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo at the 11th Convention held on Saturday.
Krasniqi thanked the delegates present for the trust they have placed in him, "to continue the good work for Kosovo together."
"Thank you very much for your trust. Thank you for your support. Thank you for giving me the greatest honor and responsibility of my life today, because when I first joined PDK in the spring of 2004, I never dreamed or had the ambition to be the leader of Hashim Thaçi and Kadri Veseli's party," the PDK leader said, according to a party announcement on Facebook.
Krasniqi pledged that he would work to restore PDK as the leading party in the country.
"I will do everything I know and everything I can to return the Democratic Party of Kosovo to where it belongs, as the largest and leading party of the Republic of Kosovo," Krasniqi said.
Krasniqi was first elected as PDK chairman in 2021.
Before him, PDK leaders were Hashim Thaçi (1999 – 2016) and Kadri Veseli (2016 – 2020). Both are currently on trial for war crimes in The Hague.
Krasniqi at the PDK Convention: I want to continue as president for the mission, not for the position
- 12:50 - The Chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Memli Krasniqi, at the 11th Convention of this party, addressing the delegates present, said that this convention is a call to continue the path of unity and empowerment, just as they overcame all the challenges from the departure of Hashim Thaçi and Kadri Veseli to The Hague, to winning the local elections in 2021, and received around 200 thousand votes in the February 9 elections with Bedri Hamza as the candidate for prime minister.
Krasniqi is the only candidate for PDK chairman in the Convention being held on Saturday.
"This mandate is over, but the work is not. PDK is growing, and growth requires stability. We are preparing for victory, and victory requires unity. Therefore, I ask for your support to continue as your Chairman in the challenges that lie ahead. Not for the position, but for the mission. Not for myself, but for the path that we must follow together. Because the tasks that await us: victory in the local elections, leadership of the next government, economic recovery, strengthening the state, Kosovo's return to a serious international partner, cannot wait. And we must be the ones who lead them," said Krasniqi.
According to him, in 4 years, PDK rose, "joined the network of European and global families of liberal-democratic parties, organized the 50/50 Convention for the empowerment and inclusion of women in decision-making, strengthened the Democratic Youth of Kosovo, where today its leader Arbnora is an MP."
"We do not just talk about the future. We want to project the future. In the Assembly of Kosovo, we have been the voice of prudence and responsibility. We have dialogued when possible, and opposed when necessary. But we have never compromised with our principles. We have overturned a large number of laws in the Constitutional Court that violated the public interest, that of workers, families and the Republic of Kosovo itself. But we achieved our greatest success on February 9: We returned pluralism to Kosovo, we saved the Republic from monism and one-party rule," he said.
Krasniqi said that when Kosovo and PDK walk together, there is only one direction, forward.
"Our cause is Kosovo. Our cause is development. Our cause is the future. And we will build it – together," he declared.
According to him, in the local elections on October 12, PDK is not only competing to regain the municipalities it currently leads, but to win several others in a row.
"Bedri Hamza, Agim Aliu, Shaqir Totaj, Fadil Nura, Ramiz Lladrovci, Ferit Idrizi, Besim Ilazi, Mehmeti Ballazhi, but also Izmir Zeqiri and Ilir Peci, have become champions of good governance throughout Kosovo: From South to North and from East to West! They are champions of development, transparency and results, confirmed and rewarded for this. Now, I understand that there comes a period when each political person, for one reason or another, feels that the time has come to create space for the new generation. And, of course, for them, we will always have only gratitude and thanks, for having represented with dignity the identity of the Democratic Party of Kosovo. But, we also pledge together here that we will work tirelessly to support our candidates in this autumn's elections, with the conviction that their service to citizens will be the example by which we will "We boast together," Krasniqi declared, among other things.
The party's vice president, Bedri Hamza, said in his speech that PDK was not born in office, but was born with confrontation and the spirit of resistance.
"We are the force with the greatest contribution to the freedom and democracy of this country. We are ready to lead the country, we are the party of Hashim Thaçi and Kadri Veseli. They were never broken and never bowed down," he emphasized.
He stated that even in the results of February 9, they had a good result, as they united citizens with their program for a better life.
"PDK is not an alternative, it is an indispensable need," Hamza emphasized. /RTK
