Muhaxhiri: Morally speaking, it is not right for members of one nationality to vote for candidates from other communities

Political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri argues that, from a moral standpoint, it is not appropriate for members of one nationality to vote for representatives of another, given that the Kosovo parliament has a system that reserves ten seats specifically for the Serbian minority.

He made this comment in response to the preliminary results of the parliamentary elections, which showed that Nenad “Rasic’s For Freedom, Justice, and Survival” party won one of the ten seats in the Kosovo Assembly guaranteed for the Serbian community. The Serb List claims that Rasic secured the seat thanks to votes cast in polling stations where only Albanians vote, as he did not receive enough votes in municipalities with a Serbian majority.

Muhaxhiri notes that a major debate over votes coming from other communities also took place during the 2021 elections. So far, Kosovo’s institutions, in cooperation with the international community and the Serbian community, have not found a suitable solution to regulate how these votes should be cast. The same issue, he added, exists with other minority groups, including Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptians.

“One possible solution might be to create a separate list exclusively for minority candidates in minority areas, but this is a very complicated issue. If these ten MPs are meant to represent the Serbian minority, then the Serbian minority should be the one voting for them, as they are their representatives, while Albanian voters already have plenty of parties to choose from,” Muhaxhiri stated.

At the same time, he emphasizes that Nenad Rasic is extremely important for Albin Kurti.

“He is important to Kurti because Kurti wants to show that he has an ally within the Serbian community. It is very beneficial for Kurti that Rasic managed to secure a seat in parliament. However, according to Kosovo’s Constitution, in order to decide who will be the minister from the Serbian community and subsequently form a government, Kurti must have the support of the majority of Serbian community MPs,” Muhaxhiri explained.