Kosovo Parties’ Glittering Promises Leave Many Voters Cold

With only a few days left before Sunday's snap polls in Kosovo, voters are again having to turn their attention to the election pledges of the political leaders touring towns and villages.

The campaign has featured little in the way of new approaches, however political rivals attack each other vigorously as usual - while sidelining such key topics as the Covid-19 pandemic, vaccination, the fight against crime and corruption, economic recovery and development, social, education and environmental protection and the continued brain drain.

Analysts say the parties seem more concerned with big geopolitical topics and global power games than the everyday problems of ordinary people.

As in previous elections, Serbia's President, Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian authorities and issues in the mainly Serb-populated north Kosovo are also in the frame.

Snap elections were triggered in December 2020, when the Constitutional Court ruled that the coalition government led by Avdullah Hoti's Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK was illegitimate because it had been voted into office with the help of an invalid vote cast by an MP with a criminal conviction in the last three years.

Hoti had become prime minister after the government led by Albin Kurti, which had come to power following previous snap elections in October 2019, was ousted after only 50 days in the office.

While observers concede that ten days of election campaigning is not enough for parties to convey complex plans to voters, and for voters to get the message, there is a weary sense of déjà vu.

This is because although parliaments in Kosovo are elected for four years, not one of the last five parliaments has completed a full term. The election on February 14 will be...