Who are the candidates for Prime Minister and what recommends them to voters?

Albin Kurti (49), Bedri Hamza (61), Ljumir Abixhiku (41), and Ramush Haradinaj (56) will compete at the polls on Sunday as candidates from the four largest parties in Kosovo for the premiership. Kurti and Haradinaj have previous experience as prime ministers, while Hamza and Abixhiku have held ministerial positions. Three are party leaders, one a mayor. Two are economists, one an electrical engineer, and one a former KLA commander.

Written by: Dusica Radeka Djordjevic

All four parties from which these candidates hail have previously held governmental leadership, and the quartet is well-known to voters.

Kurti, the leader of Self-Determination, is an electrical engineer and the current prime minister, having held office during 2020 with the shortest term of 51 days. Hamza, the mayor of South Mitrovica since 2021 and formerly the governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo and minister of finance, is the only one who is not a party leader, associated with the DPK. Haradinaj has served as prime minister twice, from 2004 to 2005 and from 2017 to 2019, and is the president of ABK. Abixhiku, a doctor of economic sciences, had a brief stint as the minister of infrastructure and environment in 2020 and is the leader of DSK.

Technocrat from DSK

Associate Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Stefan Surlic, categorizes Abixhiku as a technocrat, criticized, he says, for lacking sufficient charisma.

"He comes from the academic world. It is criticized that his campaign is based on generalities, such as promising more jobs, better economic conditions, and higher social spending, but realistically, he will not be able to fulfill all these promises easily and actually has nothing unique, at least in the current campaign. Many criticize him for lacking at least a bit of populist tact, as they say, to attract a larger number of votes, especially those from DSK that went with President Vjosa Osmani, who gave her votes and those of her supporters to Self-Determination," says Surlic for Kosovo Online.

Marko Milenkovic from the NGO "New Social Initiative" says for Kosovo Online that Abixhiku lacks significant experience in running institutions, is the biggest unknown, but as the leader of DSK, will undoubtedly pull the votes of the electorate that this party gathers.

Conservative wing of DPK

Regarding the mayor of South Mitrovica, Bedri Hamza, Surlic says he represents the conservative wing of DPK, but is also someone who was not compromised in relation to Thaçi and Veseli.

"His recommendation comes from experience in political terms and holding very demanding positions. He gathers the conservative wing of DPK in contrast to party leader Krasnici and others. Within DPK, there is also a large faction that might oppose him as a candidate because the younger and alternative part of the party, if we may say so, roots for Vlora Çitaku. In fact, the race will not be for the prime minister as much as an offer for the presidential function: either Bedri Hamza or Vlora Çitaku, that is something DPK is heading towards in case of a coalition with Self-Determination," points out Surlic.

Political analyst from Pristina, Afrim Kasoli, says that in the current campaign, DPK and DSK candidates for prime minister, Bedri Hamza, and Ljumir Abixhiku, have mostly focused on economic issues.

"Hamza mentions the fact that, while he was a minister in the government under former Prime Minister Thaçi, salaries were increased, and he takes this as a criterion that he is a leader who keeps his word and did not just give an empty promise to deceive citizens but also provided evidence that he is capable of fulfilling given promises towards improving the lives, economic, and social conditions of the citizens of Kosovo," states Kasoli for Kosovo Online. Hamza and Abixhiku, he adds, hope to win over citizens by promising improvements in living, economic, and social conditions, which are inevitably important topics for the lives of the citizens.

Political veteran ABK

As a handicap for Haradinaj, Kasoli sees the fact that his term as prime minister was marked by an increase in the salaries of his political cabinet.

"This caused dissatisfaction among some of the citizens of Kosovo and created an impression that political officials care about personal welfare, not something else. However, his achievements in the transformation of the KBS into the Kosovo Army cannot be denied, and he considers this an important issue for the citizens of Kosovo for this electoral battle on February 9," says Kasoli.

According to Surlic, Ramush Haradinaj is an absolute outsider in these elections, despite some bombastic announcements about how he will manage to bring Kosovo into NATO as a full member, solve all the bad relations that currently exist with the USA as well as with some European capitals.

"He is essentially fighting to maintain his voter base in Metohija and to secure at least 10 percent of the votes, but is not mentioned as a coalition partner, especially not as a future prime minister. We are talking about a political veteran who exists in the desire to defend his political legacy and political support, not to be a key player or veto player in the next coalition," emphasizes Surlic.

As the candidate for the new-old prime minister, Albin Kurti is "at a deficit" when it comes to fulfilling promises from the previous election cycle to economically improve conditions in Kosovo, according to Surlic's opinion, because the reality is that there are not enough domestic or foreign investments. However, as he points out, Kurti has compensated for the absence of economic growth and the fight against crime with a policy of sovereignty over the entire territory of Kosovo, especially the north.

"Kurti continues precisely on this policy as he has secured the final full statehood of Kosovo and on this wave, he will capture the largest number of votes. He is recommended by this tough policy, a policy that rejecting conditions set by the west has enabled a better position for Kosovo than if it had accepted, as he says, rotten compromises. As his biggest loss in public is mentioned the missed chance for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe, for which it was only necessary to send the statute of the Community of Serb Municipalities to the Constitutional Court," Surlic states.

Marko Milenkovic observes that Kurti led his previous term with a campaign focused on nationalist policies centered on security issues for the upcoming elections.

"On the other hand, the government's concrete results from the previous term are lacking. In international relations, Kurti has not exactly excelled, while for Bedri Hamza and Ramush Haradinaj, the opposite could be said since they come from parties that have had a different approach towards the international community. The approach of the U.S. administration will undoubtedly play a crucial role, and here Hamza and Haradinaj are probably seen as acceptable, which we also interpret through the meetings these two leaders have had in the U.S.," Milenkovic states for Kosovo online.

Kasoli notes that Kurti focuses on the issue of the north in his campaign, presenting himself as the only leader who can resolve the main problem that Kosovo faces concerning the north, considering several initiatives he undertook during his term, regardless of the fact that this has caused tension with international allies. Because of these initiatives, as Kasoli mentions, Kosovo is under international sanctions and finds itself in an international "limbo" concerning Euro-Atlantic integrations.

Considering public opinion polls and the upcoming elections in Kosovo, Stefan Surlic still views it as a race for second place, which will determine the nature of the future government. Kurti's promise of 500,000 votes, which would mean winning more than 55 percent of the electorate, seems, he says, utterly unrealistic. According to his assessment, the Self-Determination Movement will have the largest number of votes and it is realistic for them to be around 40 percent, and in such a scenario, they would be conditioned by the prime ministerial position. As the most likely coalition partner of the future government in that case, Surlic already mentions the Democratic Party of Kosovo.