PROFILE: Who are the candidates targeting Pristina?

The main parties in the country have already formalised Pristina's mayoral candidates, where the fiercest race in the October 22nd local elections is expected to take place.

Shpend Ahmeti from Vetevendosje, Arba Abashi from LDK, Lirak Celij from the PDK, and Arber Vlachiu from AAK are the main candidates for the first of Pristina.

But what about each one of them?

Shpend Ahmeti:

Pristina's current chairman, Shpend Ahmeti, was born on April 18th 1978. He has completed master's studies in public politics at Harvard University in America, while university studies have been completed in economics and business management at American University in Bulgaria.

Since 2005 Ahmeti is legalising public policies and international economic policies at the American University in Kosovo.

Ahmeti has also been deputy chairman of Vetevendosje over a period, and he has also been a co-founder of the New Spirit with Ilir Deda, but who, after failing in the election, has disappeared.

Shpend Ahmeti was elected head of Pristina in 2013, ending the nearly 15-year rule of the Democratic League of Kosovo in the capital.

In the first round of elections, he had had more than 8 thousand votes less than Isa Mustafa, but in the second round, there was an extraordinary overthrow where Ahmeti came out first with about 2 thousand and 500 votes ahead of the LDK leader.

Arba Abrash:

The LDK candidate for the capital in this election is set to be Arba Abashi. He was born in February 1979 in Mitrovica.

University studies are completed at the University “Hasan Pristina” at the Faculty of Philosophy, the Department of Political Science. And the master has completed it at the University of Sussex in Great Britain in the field of European integrations.

Abrashi is a member of the LDK General Council, and has also exercised some institutional functions.

From 2008 to 2010, he has been an adviser to the local minister of administration and government. In 2010 he has become an adviser to the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, while he has also been exercising the post of deputy minister at the Ministry of Integration.

Finally, the candidate for the first of Pristina by the LDK has also been minister of labour and social welfare.

He is married has a child and lives in Pristina.

Lirak Cellaj:

PDK branch chairman Lirak Celij will be the candidate of this party for head of the capital.

Celaj was born on March 26, 1973, in Pristina. He graduated from UP at the arts faculty. In October 1998, he joined the KLA ranks in the Llap area where he was the spokesman.

In 1999, he managed to become director of the National Theatre in Pristina, and also was an MP in the first term of the Kosovo Parliament.

In a professional way, Celaj has played dozens of roles in theatre and film, including film directors and has written many scenarios.

Finally, Lirak Celij has been deputy minister of the Ministry of Justice, from which he had handed out to focus on organising the PDK branch in Pristina for local elections.

Arber Vladiu:

The newest accession to the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Arber Vladhiu, has won confidence in Ramush Haradinaj to enter the race for Pristina chairmanship.

Vlachhiu was born in 1967 in Pristina, while his entire career is nearly linked to journalism, where he has even conducted master studies in mass communication in the capital.

He has been working as a journalist for 27 years, 11 years as a BBC World Service correspondent from Kosovo. He was also a Deutsche Waye correspondent, and has also worked as Radio Free Europe service chief in Kosovo.

It has also been a lecturer for a while at the University of Pristina, the branch of journalism.

As for political careers, Vladhiu has been adviser to former President Atifete Jahjaga.