Xhafer Tahiri

Xhafer Tahiri (born 15 August 1983) is a politician in Kosovo. He served in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo from 2013 to 2014 and was the mayor of Vushtrri from 2017 to 2021. Tahiri is a member of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

Early life and career

Tahiri was born to an Albanian family in the village of Stanoc in Vushtrri, in what was then the Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo in the Socialist Republic of Serbia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He graduated from the University of Pristina's Faculty of Law in 2004, earned a master's degree the following year from the University of Bologna in Italy, and has worked toward a Ph.D. at the law faculty of the University of Graz in Austria. Tahiri has lectured at Haxhi Zeka University in Peja and at the University of Pristina.

He was director of the legal affairs and international relations department in the office of Kosovo's presidency between 2006 and 2016 and was a member of the supervisory board for Kosovo's Anti-Corruption Agency from 2007 to 2009. ^[1] After Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence in 2008, he served on a committee reviewing border demarcation issues between with the Republic of Macedonia (now North Macedonia). ^[2] He was also a representative of the president's office on the Consultation Council for Minorities. ^[3]

Politician

Tahiri joined the LDK's youth wing in the early 2000s and was its president from 2009 to 2012. ^[4] The LDK experienced serious divisions in late 2011, and, as a supporter of former party leader Fatmir Sejdiu, Tahiri briefly saw his standing fall within the party. ^[5]

Parliamentarian

Tahiri was given the thirty-fifth position on the LDK's electoral list in the 2010 Kosovan parliamentary election. Parliamentary elections in Kosovo are held under open list proportional representation, and Tahiri finished in thirty-first place among the LDK's candidates. ^[6] The list won twenty-seven seats, and he was not initially elected; he did, however, receive a mandate on 26 December 2013 as the replacement for another party member. ^[7] The LDK served in opposition during this time. During his brief term as a legislator, Tahiri was a member of the public finance oversight committee. ^[8]

Tahiri was again included on the LDK's list in the 2014 parliamentary election, this time in the sixty-seventh position. He finished in fifty-sixth place among the party's candidates; the list won thirty mandates and he was not re-elected. ^{[9] [10]}

Mayor of Vushtrri

Tahiri was elected as mayor of Vushtrri in the 2017 Kosovan local elections, defeating Ferit Idrizi of the rival Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) in the second round. He initially governed in a coalition with Vetëvendosje, although the alliance between the parties broke down in early 2021. ^[11]

In 2020, Tahiri opposed the LDK's decision to remove Vjosa Osmani from the party leadership. ^[12]

He was defeated by Idrizi in the 2021 local elections in a rematch from four years earlier.

Electoral record

Local (Vushtrri)

2021 Kosovan local elections: Mayor of Vushtrri

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Ferit Idrizi	Democratic Party of Kosovo	10,247	34.81	13,414	53.19
	Xhafer Tahiri (incumbent)	Democratic League of Kosovo	9,956	33.82	11,806	46.81
	Arsim Rexhepi	Levizja Vetëvendosje!	7,667	26.04
	Mensut Ademi	Alliance for the Future of Kosovo	565	1.92
	Ergin Sunguri	Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo	436	1.48
	Albert Maxhuni	Social Democratic Initiative	322	1.09
	Jeton Salihu	Independent candidate	245	0.83
Total			29,438	100.00	25,220	100.00
Source: [13] [14]

2017 Kosovan local elections: Mayor of Vushtrri

Candidate		Party	First round		Second round
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Xhafer Tahiri	Democratic League of Kosovo	7,842	25.64	15,122	54.24
	Ferit Idrizi	Democratic Party of Kosovo	10,184	33.29	12,758	45.76
	Besim Muzaqi	Levizja Vetëvendosje!	7,679	25.10
	Nasuf Aliu	New Kosovo Alliance	2,442	7.98
	Lutfi Bilalli	Alliance for the Future of Kosovo	1,591	5.20
	Abdullah Vojvoda	Initiative for Kosovo	852	2.79
Total			30,590	100.00	27,880	100.00
Source: [15] [16]

References

1. PROFILI I KRYETARIT, Archived 2021-04-20 at the Wayback Machine , Municipality of Vishtrri, accessed 14 January 2022.
2. "Joint committee on Kosovo-Macedonia border demarcation begins talks," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 3 April 2008 (Source: Text of report by Kosovo Albanian privately-owned newspaper Koha Ditore on 2 April).
3. "Kosovo: Ethnic leaders say president abused office over their representatives," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 8 March 2010 (Source: Text of report by Kosovo Albanian privately-owned newspaper Express on 7 March).
4. For his election to the position, see "Xhafer Tahiri u zgjodh kryetar i FR të LDK-së", Telegrafi, 12 July 2009, accessed 14 January 2022.
5. "Paper says ex-president supporters purged from Kosovo party," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 4 November 2011 (Source: Text of report by Kosovo Albanian privately-owned newspaper Express on 3 November).
6. ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2010 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 30, accessed 2 February 2022.
7. "Hatim Baxhaku, zyrtarisht deputet në Kuvendin e Kosovës", Radio Sharri, 26 November 2013, accessed 14 January 2022.
8. Periudha e katërt Legjislative (12.12.2010 - 07.05.2014), Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, accessed 14 January 2022.
9. ZGJEDHJET E PARAKOHSHME PËR KUVENDIN E REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2014 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 31, accessed 14 January 2022.
10. "Tahiri i LDK-së nuk fiton mandatin e deputetit, gjen ngushëllim në Kuran", Telegrafi, 26 June 2014, accessed 14 January 2022.
11. "Tahiri konfirmon prishjen e koalicionit LDK-LVV në Vushtrri", Telegrafi, 29 January 2021, accessed 27 September 2023.
12. "LDK remove Vjosa Osmani from party leadership", Prishtina Insight, 20 June 2020, accessed 14 January 2022.
13. ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2021 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë) – Rezultatet për Kryetar të Komunave, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 28, accessed 12 January 2022.
14. ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2021 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i dytë) – Rezultatet për Kryetar të Komunave, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 13, accessed 12 January 2022.
15. ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë) – Rezultatet e kandidatëve për Kryetar Komune, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 28, accessed 12 January 2022.
16. ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i dytë) – Rezultatet e kandidatëve për Kryetar Komune, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 18, accessed 12 January 2022.