Kasapolli: Holding elections simultaneously would benefit Self-Determination, so they can ‘sell’ their image locally

Political analyst Gezim Kasapolli believes that the Self-Determination Movement already has a plan to hold snap parliamentary elections and regular local elections, which are due this fall, at the same time in an effort to try to gain a majority in the municipalities, a result they did not achieve in the previous local elections in 2021.

"I believe that the Self-Determination Movement already has a plan to hold both snap parliamentary and local elections, so that somehow Mr. Albin Kurti’s image can be 'calculated in' for the local elections. He will try to 'sell' his image and his myth to the citizens at the local level and somehow reflect the parliamentary picture there and win a majority, because in 2021, the local elections were won by the LDK. There was a large discrepancy of 250,000 votes between what the Self-Determination Movement received in the parliamentary elections held that same year and what it got in the local elections," Kasapolli told Kosovo Online.

He emphasizes that everyone has already started preparing for the local elections, which he says is illogical given the situation where the Assembly has not yet been constituted, nor has a government been formed after the parliamentary elections held on February 9. In order to move forward, he stresses, a new parliament must be formed.

The local elections, as he notes, are planned to be held in October this year, but the actual date is also a matter of agreement between political parties.

He also points out that it would generally suit Kurti best if the elections were held during the summer, because he receives more votes from the diaspora, and the diaspora will be in Kosovo during the summer, meaning he won't have to spend a lot of money "chasing votes around the world."

"In the previous elections, Kurti primarily focused on the diaspora, using embassies and conducting a kind of political campaign there, and then turned to campaigning on social media, because he knows that his voters are mainly young people who are most active on social media," Kasapolli says.