Interview with Idri Istrefi, candidate for Mayor of Struga

VOX Struga: What made you personally run for mayor of the Municipality of Struga?

Idri Istrefi: First of all, Thank you for the opportunity you have given me to express my views and opinions. The role of the media is very important in a society like ours, with many problems. Regarding my candidacy, I have been in the field for many years, where the problems are and where a solution needs to be found. By this I mean that for quite some time now, my personal views and needs are closely related to public general needs and problems. I stayed away from the media, I loved and worked where there was a need, without the presence of the cameras. There is no greater motivation to run for office when you witness families who rejoice and laugh only one month of the year when their children return, and they cry for the remaining eleven months. There is no greater incentive than seeing someone get rich overnight, and everyone around remains poor. There is no stronger motivation for taking on this responsibility, when you see in front of you a beautiful city like Struga emptying on a day when the summer ends and all the migrant workers/immigrants leave. Everything is politicized, and even to the enrollment of children in kindergartens. Here if the child is not with the right/required party, there are cases when the child stayed out of the kindergarten without being able to enroll. They have taken hostage the people with the jobs, you think their ability and right to get a job was not deserved, rather, it is a credit to the party. I am convinced that the time has come for Struga to breathe differently and return to its citizens. The time has come to say STOP to misrule, the theft, the manipulation, blackmail, the corruption, the usurpation and above all the alienation of Struga's identity as a city of education and culture.

VOX Struga: Can you tell us how you imagine the position of mayor of a municipality??

Idri Istrefi: We, for luck, we have a team feel to work. I don't think I could achieve what I want by myself. I can change the government with my vote, this yes, but, just that. The municipality is a serious and complex task, therefore without my team it is impossible to work. I will bring to the municipality the mentality of a servant of the people, which in reality a mayor of a municipality should be.. The municipality should be a service/help for the citizen, and not to drag him for months and years for documents that are the responsibility of the municipality to issue/make. The municipality should make life easier for its citizens, and not to complicate and make it difficult. There is so much misunderstanding about this matter. Being a proclaimed mayor is interpreted as a kind of profitable business, as it actually was. They did not manage,rather they reigned. Now is the time for the law to come into place. Managing the municipality is a job entrusted to you by the people. It is a privilege, because the people let you know that they trust you. But, it is a great responsibility to do well the work you have undertaken. It is enough to introduce the feeling of honest work, of the joy to fix Struga, on a normalnata opshtina and not on a mafioso. This is how this municipality will flourish again.

VOX Struga: How do you see the cooperation with VMRO that you will have in these elections?

Idri Istrefi: As an additional force. We are a party that basically wants the well-being of people and the development of the space where we live. History speaks of dark spots, but it is the duty of each of us to write bright spots on its pages. Then, I personally believe in the maxim that there are no good or bad nations, there are such people. Every ethnic group living in Struga loves the city equally, he wants to see it as a beautiful city, developed and reliable. If you ask them where they live, they would all answer: "In Struga". The lathe is the point of union, of support and a great new beginning!

VOX Struga: Do you have any message for all those who will read this interview??

Idri Istrefi: Yes. Initially, I would like to express my condolences to all the families who lost their loved ones in the hospital in Tetovo. Our soul does not ache for this tragedy and it is the duty of us who are still alive to demand JUSTICE for them!

second, I want to tell everyone that Struga has really fallen into a depression of poverty and abuse. But, the people of Struga have decided, regardless of language, the faith, customs and traditions, from the village, town, and even to the most distant continent where they live, on 17 October to come here to revive Struga, because Struga is They. Because we will win and return Struga to the people of Struga.

AND, Certainly, I want to assure every citizen of Struga that I will be the mayor of all, both inside and outside the municipal building, in the yellow line of the city and in its most remote village. I will be the guarantor for every right that belongs to Strujani in relation to the local government.

VOX Struga: Thank you Mr. Idri Istrefi!

Idri Istrefi: It was my pleasure!