Maliqi: The diaspora should not take part in local elections

Political analyst Shkelzen Maliqi told Kosovo Online that citizens with voting rights in Kosovo who live abroad are somewhat less interested in local elections than in parliamentary ones, and that their votes at the local level might only have an impact in larger centers, such as Pristina. He also believes that the diaspora should not take part in local elections.

“At the general elections, yes, those with dual citizenship who live partly there and partly here. But in local elections, they have no reason to vote here. They live in Germany or wherever else, and that’s where they should be active, because that’s where they actually live,” Maliqi said.

At the October 12 elections, he noted, there will be no voting at embassies. Instead, the diaspora will have to vote by mail or come to Kosovo in person. For that reason, he does not expect their votes to significantly affect the outcome.

Maliqi also assessed that voters in the local elections will be influenced by the “broader debate over whether the government has been effective at all, and whether it has achieved anything beyond damaging Kosovo’s relations with all of its sponsors, the United States and the European Union.”

“Kurti’s government is still under sanctions. Will that lead to punishment at the local level as well? I assume it will. But that is good, it is healthy for democracy. And Kurti, even though he is eloquent, sometimes also leans toward autocracy. Populism, autocracy, we have already seen that almost everywhere,” Maliqi concluded.