Rajic: A caretaker government benefits Kurti, from a position of power he can strengthen party infrastructure ahead of local elections

Analyst Predrag Rajic assesses that Albin Kurti benefits from the current situation in which he holds power in a caretaker government, because from that position, ahead of the upcoming local elections, he can try to further strengthen his party's infrastructure.

"Kurti suffered a convincing defeat in the last local elections. He lost the race in all major cities, and I’m not sure that will be the case this time. I think he will succeed in at least one city, so he can say ‘we're stronger locally than we were four years ago.’ That’s probably his goal,” Rajic notes.

However, he adds that he is not certain the results from the parliamentary elections held on February 9 will be mirrored at the local level, since local results often differ. Whether the local and potential snap parliamentary elections will be held on the same day, he emphasizes, is not solely up to Kurti.

“To dissolve the parliament and hold snap elections, he needs a two-thirds majority, which he doesn’t have. That requires a consensus among political parties, including the opposition,” Rajic points out.

He believes the situation of constitutional deadlock could last for a long time, and that this benefits Kurti, perhaps even more than if he were to immediately reach an agreement with the opposition to go to snap elections, because as a caretaker prime minister, he can govern by decree.

“If we use regional terminology, this is a ‘Savnik scenario.’ In the municipality of Savnik in Montenegro, elections held four years ago are still not concluded to this day. The mayor and the Municipal Council in power were elected by an assembly chosen in elections held eight years ago. That assembly is still in place and making decisions. Something similar could possibly reflect on Kosovo and Metohija. It is not exactly the same to look at one local government in Montenegro and an entire province, because other interests will likely come into play here, primarily, I mean international actors. But Kurti will aim to drag things out as much as he can. The current situation, where he insists on a candidate for President of the Assembly even though he knows he doesn’t have a majority, shows he is pursuing a strategy of attrition, while remaining in power the entire time, which suits him,” our source concludes.