Muhaxhiri: Voter abstention is a negative message for Kurti, Osmani offered populism

Political analyst from Pristina Artan Muhaxhiri stated that Vjosa Osmani, through her own fault, did not bring many votes to the Democratic League of Kosovo because, apart from populism and pro-Americanism, she had no platform to offer. He also said that Self-Determination's weaker result and the abstention of its voters send a negative message to Albin Kurti who, he believes, will continue to lose public support if he does not change his approach.

Muhaxhiri told Kosovo Online that the only real question mark in the elections was the level of success achieved by former President Vjosa Osmani, who failed to realize the potential she had at the beginning.

“It was expected that she would bring a large number of votes to the Democratic League of Kosovo. However, that did not happen, and it was her own fault because she did not have a good platform to offer voters apart from populism and pro-Americanism. There is also the rapid change in her position regarding Albin Kurti, because they were the closest allies for five years and then became the worst enemies,” Muhaxhiri pointed out.

He also notes that the Democratic League of Kosovo had internal problems, particularly with a group of members including Avdullah Hoti, Hykmete Bajrami, and Arben Gashi, who opposed Osmani's return, especially since party leader Lumir Abdixhiku failed to reconcile her return to the party with the negative views held by some members of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

“There was a conflict, and they lost votes because of that conflict since they failed to project an image of unity, which was their slogan,” Muhaxhiri said, assessing that the Democratic League of Kosovo missed a major opportunity to win more votes.

Asked what happened to the large number of Self-Determination votes that were clearly absent this time, he said that what is interesting is that those votes did not go to other parties, but that the voters simply abstained.

“They did not want to vote for Kurti, but they also did not want to vote for other parties. That is the reason why the Democratic Party of Kosovo also lost many votes,” Muhaxhiri said.

Voter abstention, he notes, is a strong negative message to Kurti that he must change his approach.

“If he does not do so, and if this trend continues, he will lose even more voters in the next elections, whenever they are held,” Muhaxhiri is convinced.