Gogic: Molliqaj knows how Kurti thinks, but has never managed to significantly undermine his rating

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic says that the leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, Dardan Molliqaj, differs from the rest of the opposition in his approach to the election campaign because he seeks to carve out a place for himself by attacking not only the ruling parties but also those that are not in power. According to Gogic, this may indicate that Molliqaj is aware there is a single anti-Kurti voter bloc and sees his opportunity in trying to win those voters over by presenting himself as better than the rest of the opposition.

According to Gogic, Molliqaj is a distinctive figure on Kosovo's political scene and generally stands out because of his eccentric public appearances.

"There is no recognizable consistency in his approach. At times, he comes across as contrarian, someone who takes the opposite position, and he often criticizes both the current government, Kurti, and the opposition, as well as the international community. It depends on the circumstances and what is happening at a given moment, so he always latches onto whatever is current and builds on it, while maintaining that contrarian stance," Gogic assesses.

During this campaign, as he notes, the SDP leader has repeated certain criticisms of the government and has even questioned issues that are highly significant in Kosovo, such as militarization and the formation of a gendarmerie force.

"By criticizing the opposition, he undermines the unity of the opposition front, because the opposition generally does not attack one another. Instead, they all direct their attacks toward Kurti, which suggests they are probably counting on future cooperation in parliament and also believe that mutual attacks would be harmful to their overall collective result. Molliqaj has apparently concluded that it is better for him to try to attract some voters by discrediting other opposition participants. However, it is questionable whether he has a consistent strategy or is simply trying different tactics to see what works. There is little chance that his party will pass the electoral threshold this time, but he may be positioning himself for future elections expected in Kosovo," Gogic believes.

Given that Molliqaj was once a close associate of Albin Kurti, and asked whether this gives him an advantage over others because he knows Kurti well, Gogic notes that Molliqaj left Self-Determination in 2018, before Kurti came to power, and therefore did not have the opportunity to get to know him while he was governing, which is a different kind of political experience.

"However, he certainly knows Kurti well and understands the way he thinks, which is why he sometimes does things that irritate Kurti and target his weak points. For example, he has accused Kurti of inconsistency and of failing to uphold his own values regarding relations with the international community and social policy in general, since they are all, first and foremost, Marxists by ideological conviction. But it has never been shown that he has managed to seriously weaken Kurti. He is apparently not taken very seriously on Kosovo's political scene. He has never succeeded in significantly undermining Kurti's popularity, so even if he has a better understanding of how Kurti operates, in practice he has not demonstrated that he knows how to use that knowledge effectively," Gogic points out.