Bahtiri: PDK is using the protest for political gains

Vetëvendosje MP Agim Bahtiri has reacted to the protest held today, accusing the PDK of trying to turn it into a tool for political gains and to build a cause that, according to him, does not exist.

Bahtiri said that VV has supported the law and given assurances that it will also vote for it in the second reading. However, he opposed the use of citizens’ emotions for political purposes.

He called on all members of the Kosovo Assembly to vote for the President so that the country would not once again be drawn into an electoral process, which he described as unnecessary and shameful.

According to Bahtiri, the PDK is attempting to turn a peaceful protest into hooliganism, with the aim of creating the impression that VV is against the KLA and against the people being unjustly held in The Hague. He denied this, stressing that VV had opposed the establishment of that court, had not provided the votes for its creation and had not called for it to be approved.

The MP also criticized those who, according to him, strongly supported the establishment of the court and once said they would vote for it again, while now demanding that others abolish it. Bahtiri said that VV would do everything possible to fight for justice, without sparing any effort.

He stressed that VV had unanimously voted for the law and guaranteed that it would also approve it in the second reading, but underlined that it would not support what he called the PDK’s “imaginary cause.”

Bahtiri claimed that the PDK’s plan was for the law to pass both readings and then for it not to deal with the election of the President, but instead to argue that the Government was not interested in the people in The Hague. According to him, the aim would be to derail the election of the President, go to elections and secure several more votes through this cause.

He said that VV was trying to correct the mistake that, according to him, the PDK had willingly made in the past. Bahtiri added that even its opponents knew that without a stable state and functioning institutions, there could be no benefit for the people being held in The Hague either.

The MP described the PDK’s lack of interest in this issue as concerning and said that this was where its cause fell apart. He called on people not to use citizens’ emotions for political gains, stressing that the KLA belonged to the people and that neither religion nor political parties had managed to divide it, even during the most difficult periods.

Bahtiri said that citizens did not deserve to have their emotions over the liberation war used in this way.

In conclusion, he called on all members of the Kosovo Assembly, regardless of the party they belonged to, to vote for the President and help prevent Kosovo from going to elections again, since such a development would, according to him, be excessive and shameful.