Meet Arber Bulaki, the first Albanian to attempt entry into the Swiss National Parliament

Arber Bullaki has lived until she is eight in his hometown of Suhareka. Two days after Arbri was eight years old, he and his mother had taken the migration route to Switzerland. St. Gallen joined his father, who worked in Switzerland since the 1980s.

In 1994, war had not begun in Kosovo yet, but Arbri indicates that his family knew they had no choice but to migrate because war had begun to come to Kosovo.

“We knew that war would begin in Kosovo but we didn't know the exact time, the demonstrations had also started at the time, so I experienced the first demonstrations, I saw what it means to live under military and political repression”, has confessed Bulak to the Life Journal in Kosovo.

Nature, the warmth of the family, society, are the beautiful images he remembers from the short childhood he has spent in the city of Suhareka.

“I have experienced life as it grew up in Kosovo, I have seen it grow close to nature, it has been a very positive side, namely, after a space, then a life together with the Serbian family”, Bullaki said.

While the other side of the medal, which has left its mark on Arber Bullackaj's personality and has been one of the main factors he is now active in Switzerland's politics, it is the missing freedom in Kosovo.

I have also seen the bad side, at the time we were not free, at the time when Kosovo was under Serbia's influence, I have seen what it means not to follow certain democratic rights. And this, normally, that has had a big impact on my personality and I believe it's one of the most important points that I do politics today in Switzerland”, has shown Bullaki.

I'm going to find friends like I left them in my homeland, teach my language”, and that's the question he's been thinking about as a second grader when he's on his way to Switzerland.

But all these questions that Arbri had posed to himself were answered as soon as he arrived at St. Gallen. St. Gallen had become a refuge for many Albanian families who had fled Kosovo.

Although Arbri did not know a word of German language, for the first time he had the opportunity to speak Albanian with other Albanian children sharing the same story and pain with him.

When I arrived, there was a country where there were many Albanians, it actually made it a little easier because at first we could understand it in Albanian with some people, because there were many Albanian immigrants, we weren't the only ones, but there were many other families who had migrated from Kosovo”, Bulaki said.

After the eight months he had attended language courses and had been part of an integration class, Arbri had begun to attend class with Swiss students.

Company partner with 100,000 workers

Arber Bulaki had started practicing as an accountant at a Swiss company in which after three years he had managed to become a finance chief. After several years as an employee of other companies, Bulaaj has decided to open his company, “A&O Consulting”, which deals with the implementation of one of the world's largest accounting programmes, SAP.

It's been eight years since Bullaki heads a company in Switzerland that counts as many as 10 workers.

I started it there and I've been consulting big companies, big banks, or some companies with 3 or 4 thousand workers up to 100 thousand workers, the Albanian Bulaki Swiss for the JNK Journal has said.

Kosovo has returned to Bullakit's radar again, as it has decided three years ago to open an office in Kosovo, where 30 people are employed.

But I don't do that, I'm dealing with IT, I'm a partner of an IT Consulting company, and there's also an office in Kosovo”, he explained.

12 Years in Politics

After 12 years of life in Switzerland, Arber Bullaki had finally decided to obtain the Swiss passport. The chairman of the Commission for Naturalisation had been the one who had drawn Bulakan to politics even though he had always been fond of it.

The Commission chairman's questions had highlighted Bullackaj's interest in politics. After receiving the Swiss passport, the chairman of the Commission for Naturalisation, which is also the deputy head of the Swiss-level PSD, has dropped the Bullackaj phone number to ask whether he is interested in being active in political life in Switzerland.

Now, but it's been 12 years since Arber Bulaaj is part of the political life in Switzerland, that eight years he is deeply involved in politics, that 7 years is part of the municipal Parliament, and that 4 years he is deputy chairman of the Social Democrat Party (PSD) at the cantonal level.

Although Switzerland is one of the most democratic states that has never experienced war, the treatment of immigrants has caused Bullaki to raise her voice on the issue.

I am actually a politicised man, politicized by life, with what I have seen in Kosovo. In Switzerland life is much more democratic, but even Switzerland has problems. At the time, he had some behavioral problems with immigrants who have not liked me, and if you don't agree with something that happens in politics, it should also be active in politics to change something”, Bullaki has said.

Arber Bullaki is one of the PSD candidates in the Father canton. Gallen, a contender to become an MP for the Swiss National Parliament.

Even though Bullaki has said she has been expected to be on the party's 12 nominated list in this canton, it has still been a strong competition within the party. But according to him, it was best that his name was not discussed at all whether to list it or not.

The competition within the party was very big because there were many people interested in being part of the list, some of them with a lot of political experience. I was eventually chosen as a candidate and, what was best, was never questioned by my name to be part of the list, that shows that the party is behind my back and that you support me a lot of”, he said.

On January 18th, it will be set for the numbers that will carry candidates within the party for elections. According to Bulaaj, this is a very important phase since the smaller the number, the opportunity is greater to join the Parliament.

After that stage, it is next to preparations for the campaign, which will take time and energy until the summer months.

In September it's the last stage when the ballots start to come, and now we have three weeks of time by hand. In fact, in Switzerland 80 percent of the paperwork is made by mail”, Bullacky indicated.

The three weeks during which the balloting is delivered have been assessed as very important by Bulaaj for mobilising Albanians and Swiss to vote. Until October 20th, on the crucial day for the next legislature in Switzerland, they will vote for the remaining 20 per cent without voting.

Albanians, campaign heart

Swiss National Parliament MP Arber Bulaaj has said Albanians will be the heart of his campaign.

But not only does the body exist with the heart, but it also needs other organs to mobilise other immigrant groups”, Bullackaj has declared.

His campaign target will also be Bosniaks, Croats, Italians and Swiss supporters of multicultural Switzerland.

“As we have walked so far, parliament must reflect on the people, and at the moment parliament is not the mirror of the people”, said Albanian Swiss Bullaki.

To be the parliament mirror of the people, Bulaaj has said women and immigrants must be more represented in the National Parliament.

Bulaaj has shown that as a Social Democrat Party candidate, he supports a state with strong health insurance, a state struggling for human equality, new jobs and a multicultural Switzerland.

I also have the economic point where I have a lot of experience, I know we need jobs and then jobs need post-innovation, and of course I'm representative of multicultural Switzerland, my history has many others, that someone from their family has migrated and lives in Switzerland”, explained Bullacaj for the JNK Journal.

Given that the campaign is very important on the road to providing a seat in Parliament, Arbri has made sure that there is a strong team around him. He has said he will aim for this campaign to mobilise the second generation and third generation of Albanians who were born and raised in Switzerland and did not assess the right to vote.

Burakaj also plans his team to be balanced, to have representation of all generations and professions.

But those who grew up here probably don't appreciate it or know what it's like not to have rights and they should be told how important it is to vote because some states have fought for that right after that and I'm confident that we're going to be able to create a balanced group in the” campaign, Bulaaj has confessed.

Arber Bullakaj has called on Albanians who have Swiss passports to exploit the right to vote in Switzerland and to come out and vote on the person they think will represent in the National Parliament.

This is where you live you have to be active in political life and you have to assess the right to vote. Those who don't vote deeply respect democracy, even the call is to respect democracy, and vote on that person who believes it represents mostly in national policy”, has stressed the candidate for MP in the Swiss National Parliament by the PSD for the St canton. Gallen.

General statistics show immigrants who are not born Swiss vote less. According to Bulaaj, politics has so far failed to mobilise to vote immigrants, but even they have not felt themselves represented in politics so far.

Although it has been about 50 years since Albanians have gone to work, have emigrated and other generations have been born and grew up there, no Albanian has yet managed to become part of the Swiss National Parliament.

“No person so far who has represented immigrants in the National Parliament, Albanians are still not represented at all, we have no person of Croatian and Bosnian descent, once he was a person of origin from Africa, but this was 10 years ago, we have representatives only of Italians, Germans and Austrians, other groups are not represented”, Bullaki said.

Bulaaj has indicated that the last five years Albanians have managed to integrate more than ever into Switzerland's society, economy, education, medicine and sports. According to him, this integration of Albanians has been highlighted with the success of Albanians in Switzerland's national football.

Until the football team started, and that's where we arrived as Albanians, it was seen that Albanians are no longer the ones who were in the 80s when they worked as seasonal workers but that we are now integrated, we are part of life in Switzerland and part of the economy in Switzerland, part of education in Switzerland”, Arber Bullakaj has said.

He has said that although at cantonal and municipal level Albanians have managed to be successful, at the national level they have not yet managed to represent themselves. Burakaj has said Albanians have the chance to do so on October 20th.

On the national level, I believe we can improve and have the chance in 2019 and I hope that we will succeed and have the minimum one Albanian in the National Parliament”, Bullackaj has said. /Periscopi