Author: Xhelal NEZIRI
With or without premeditation, Albin Kurti left the flag to Avdullah Hoti. He did mot hand offer the function because he dismissed him several months ago. “I am not handing over the task to a man I fired,” Kurti said bluntly, even though he knew he was doing an institutional precedent. Typically for his temperament.
Better said, Kurti stirred “hot potatoes” to Hoti. The chances of him returning to power are high because the Hoti government will be the government of serious agreements. The historic agreement expected to be reached between Pristina and Belgrade will undoubtedly have a political price for its signatories in both countries.
The SYRIZA government in Greece led by left-wing leader Alexis Tzipras – after resolvoing the name issue with North Macedonia – lost the parliamentary elections in July 2019. With the Prespa Agreement, signed in May 2017, as if did a great deal of right-wing work for the Nea Demokratia of Kiriakos Mitzotakis, who is now prime minister of Greece. His father, Konstantinos Mitzotakis, was the first to face the name issue in 1991, when the northern neighbor declared independence. In addition, since then it has been a great burden for Greece as it internationally challenged the image of the country where democracy was born.
Now we are waiting to see the fate of SDSM – the left-wing party led by Zoran Zaev – if it has cleared Hristijan Mickovski’s right-wing VMRO-DPMNE path by accepting the agreement with SYRIZA’s Greece. We will know the answer in the summer, when the early parliamentary elections are expected to take place.
Although the three belong to the left-wing political spectrum, Kurti is more similar to Tsipras than to Zaev. The two climbed to the top of politics with anarchist protests. However, Kurti did not want to follow the footsteps of Tsipras – praised abroad and defeated at home. His plan seems to be longer. Building the narrative that he knows how to win over 50 percent of the vote in the next election means that he expects to return as prime minister, voted by two-thirds of the deputies. Normally, along with a coalition partner there will be no power inside, as the government would not depend on him. Moreover, this opens the dilemma of whether the amendment of the Constitution is part of its long-term plan.
Nevertheless, Kurti gave some lessons on how a prime minister should work, but at the same time, he learned some lessons on how to play on the political scene.
His way of governing, however, set some missing standards in the management of public goods. Increasing support for him is a signal to other parties that they need to change in form and content. Kurti began to change the political reality in Kosovo, where he modeled the profile of the thinking politician. In the next election, he will probably win again, and his life expectancy in power will depend on the reform capacity of other parties.