Muhaxhiri: No one will want to join a new government with Kurti if his position on the agreement with Serbia remains unknown

Analyst Artan Muhaxhiri says that the results of the latest polls, which show that the Self-Determination Movement has the support of just over 40 percent of citizens, while the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic Party of Kosovo are at 20 percent, reflect the real mood of voters. He also believes that no opposition party will want to collaborate with Albin Kurti after the elections if it remains unknown how he will behave regarding the final agreement with Serbia.

Muhaxhiri points out that the populism of the Self-Determination Movement and Prime Minister Kurti is achieving results, while opposition parties lack a strategy to combat it and are not working to reduce the popularity of Albin Kurti.

"If elections were held this year, the results would be similar to what this poll shows, of course, unless something dramatic happens. In such circumstances, Kurti has a very comfortable position. There don't seem to be any other serious contenders for the top spot, and he knows he will win. But the problem will be with whom he will form a new government because he will have to share power with someone. The topic of dialogue with Serbia is the most important because no party will collaborate with Kurti without knowing how he will behave regarding the final agreement in the dialogue with Belgrade and how that agreement will be defined and reached, as the pressure from the EU and the US is enormous. The issue of this agreement will be the most important topic for the next government if elections are held this year," Muhaxhiri says for Kosovo Online.

In his view, Kurti's three years in government have passed without many positive results.

"I don't think he has many cards to play when it comes to the economy, improving the daily lives of citizens, or salaries, and he will focus on populism and his approach to northern Kosovo in the campaign. He will say that he has created a new reality and that the Kosovo government has more authority in the north. The opposition will have a problem with that because they cannot politically attack him since they haven't done anything important in 20 years to solve problems in the north; they didn't have a strategy. For everything the opposition attacks him on, Kurti says 'You haven't done that in 20 years,' so I don't think this will be a quality pre-election campaign. Kurti is a populist politician, and he will focus on topics that will bring him votes, and in the campaign, he will only talk about the sovereignty of the Republic of Kosovo and not about how he doesn't have good relations with our allies, the US and the EU," Muhaxhiri says.

As he notes, unfortunately, opposition parties are also not well-prepared on economic issues and cannot make promises regarding salaries, so, he says, the status quo will continue.