Aida Ibričević1; 1 Sarajevo School of Science and Technology, Bosnia-Herzegovina
Discussion
As pointed out by various observers, regardless of the large size of the Kosovan diaspora, particularly relative to its resident population, and its sizeable economic contribution, there has been slow progress in including the diaspora in political representation. Traditionally, Kosovan external voter registration and voter turnout has been low, however, considerable growth was observed for the 2021 Kosovo national elections: a threefold increase compared to 2019 and close to a tenfold increase in comparison to the elections of 2017 (Germin, 2021). The first research question(s) my paper aims to tackle is: What are the in-country causes of the traditionally low external voter turnout in Kosovo and of its recent substantial increase? While Koinova (2018) focuses on strategies employed by political parties to attract the diaspora vote, my paper explores the consequences of external voting by examining the political agendas of the parties which are ultimately most successful in garnering the votes of Kosovo’s non-resident voters. The second research question(s) my paper addresses is: What are the effects of diaspora voting on state-consolidation in Kosovo and on the larger society of Kosovo? Does the diasporic vote move in the direction of challenging or strengthening state sovereignty? Do external voters vote for political parties that promote social cohesion or further societal fragmentation in Kosovo?
