Hoti unhappy with party's election result: LDK needs new leadership

Democratic League of Kosovo MP Avdullah Hoti, in a reaction made on his Facebook profile, thanked their voters, however, he added that the result for the LDK is not satisfactory.

Hot wrote that in the interest of the country and the LDK, it is necessary to reflect on this election result and these developments, both politically and legally.

"Therefore, to regain the trust of the membership and the wider electorate, the LDK needs new leadership. There is no other way to restore trust in the LDK," he wrote, reports Telegrafi.

Read too Haziri reacts to Avdullah Hoti's statement: LDK belongs to the membership, not to the officials

Full reaction without interference:

Acknowledgements and Reflections on the Electoral Process

With deep gratitude, I thank every citizen for their trust in the Democratic League of Kosovo, as well as for my commitment to being your voice in the Assembly of Kosovo. I assure all those who trusted me with their vote that I will be a strong and uncompromising voice in defense of the interests of every citizen and the Republic of Kosovo.

I would like to thank the LDK structures for the work done in this campaign: the presidency, the heads of branches and sub-branches with their structures, the women's and youth forums, as well as every member of the LDK in Kosovo and the diaspora. We have all worked as much as we could and knew how to ensure the trust of citizens in the LDK program and team.

But the result for the LDK is not satisfactory. It is not even close to what we had hoped for after four years of preparation. It is clear that: (1) the oppositionism we have been doing in the last four years, (2) the reorganization of many LDK branches after the 2021 elections, (3) the internal LDK elections in 2023, and (4) the program, team and approach we offered during the 30 days of the election campaign and several months before the campaign, were not enough to convince the citizens.

Therefore, while thanking each of you, we ask for your understanding that we have not managed to organize ourselves sufficiently and properly to gain much greater civic trust, as I believe can be ensured with a different organization of the LDK.

In addition to the poor election results, another concern has been the diaspora vote. In the embassy voting, one political party (LVV) was voted for excessively and disproportionately compared to the voting in Kosovo. In the postal voting, several candidates on the LDK list were also voted for disproportionately compared to the voting in Kosovo. Both of these phenomena, when analyzed municipality by municipality, clearly seem to be not natural at all. This phenomenon has created uncertainty in the entire electoral process. Beyond this, in the case of the LDK, the internal cohesion of the party structures has been damaged, as well as the trust of the traditional LDK voter and the integrity that our political house has had for 35 years have been violated.

Therefore, in the interest of the country and the LDK, it is necessary to reflect on this election result and these developments, both politically and legally.

In the last four years, the party leadership has been engaged in restructuring the party and its branches throughout Kosovo. But, in many cases, this has been done selectively, non-statutoryly and without the necessary consideration for some of the internal specificities of the LDK. These specificities are unique to the LDK, which as a 35-year-old party has given Kosovo two presidents, three prime ministers, dozens of ministers and deputy ministers, hundreds of deputies and senior state officials.

The current leadership's orientation to make unnatural cuts, as well as distancing itself from the glorious state-building past of the LDK, despite the challenges and concessions during the journey of past leaderships, have eroded the trust of the traditional LDK electorate. Instead of building on those achievements of the LDK, the current leadership has created distance from the people and achievements of Kosovo during the governments led by the LDK.

The personalization of the election campaign, the composition of the list, the ranking of candidates on the list, the presentation and media favoritism of a narrow list of LDK candidates, as well as other issues before and during the campaign, have damaged internal party cohesion, despite the efforts of all of us to overcome those dissatisfactions. Disproportionate voting in the diaspora has further aggravated and undermined the collegial and cooperative atmosphere within the LDK.

Therefore, to regain the trust of its membership and the wider electorate, the LDK needs new leadership. There is no other way to restore trust in the LDK.

The LDK needs a leadership with a team approach, which is inclusive, with clear center-right political orientations, which gathers professionals around itself and restores the LDK to the epicenter of Kosovo's best professionals, as the LDK has been.

The LDK needs a leadership that works with full transparency towards party structures at all levels, that returns the party to statutory functioning, that makes collegial decisions based on the LDK statute (which is the party's constitution) and in broad consultation with the party's central and local structures.

The LDK needs a team leadership that heals divisions, that shows care for all young and old activists, that brings together all the pieces of the LDK in all four corners of the country and in the diaspora.

Such leadership is essential for uniting, strengthening, and returning the LDK to its core principles, as a prerequisite for regaining the trust of citizens to lead Kosovo.

I strongly believe that the entire current leadership of LDK should support this change in LDK, paving the way for change, becoming part of the new leadership. I call on the current leadership to support this change for the interest of LDK and Kosovo. All of us in LDK are aware that only together can we restore the great trust of citizens in LDK.
Therefore, I invite everyone to surpass themselves, to put aside grudges and dissatisfactions, and to dedicate ourselves to strengthening the LDK in the interest of Kosovo.

The Republic of Kosovo has a vital need for a strong LDK in its Euro-Atlantic journey, in facing the challenges of strengthening legality and constitutional order, in building a strong and competitive economy, in strengthening inter-Albanian relations throughout the region. Kosovo needs a strong LDK to maintain and cultivate partnerships with allies, in particular the permanent friendship with the USA.

Otherwise, according to the results announced by the Central Election Commission, LDK emerged as the third party in the February 9 elections, securing 20 mandates in the Kosovo Assembly./Telegraph/