Swearing for votes: Programs remain in the shadows

Offensive and derogatory terms, such as "monster", "man of Serbia", "sellout", "hybrid", "Vukvendosje", "political sect" and others, have become part of the vocabulary of almost all major political parties in Kosovo.

Such language, used publicly by politicians for years, has reached its peak on the eve of the early parliamentary elections on December 28, assess representatives of civil society, analysts and experts on social behavior and the media.

The campaign officially starts on December 17, but political parties have already begun their activities: meetings with citizens, public addresses, and television debates.

What is striking is their focus - more on attacks and accusations against each other, and almost none at all on presenting election programs.

“Instead of a debate on ideas, politics is seen as a war between 'mine' and 'yours' [people],” says Mexhide Demolli from the FOL Movement - part of the Democracy in Action network of non-governmental organizations, which monitors election campaigns and processes in Kosovo.

"Such a culture of offense, unfortunately, is seen as strength, which I consider to be wrong," she adds.

Hostile words like "deliberate strategy"

Political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri sees the intensification of denigrating language as a consequence of political parties' tendency for maximum electoral gains.

As an example, he mentions the Vetëvendosje Movement and its leader, Albin Kurti, who in the last two parliamentary elections - February 2021 and February 2025 - achieved the best result, but without major successes in the political or economic program, according to him.

"Thus, hostile words have become the most tempting model for reaching the heights of power," says Muhaxhiri.

"The selection of this format of political action even by former opposition parties is, in any case, an indicator of a drastic lack of ideas, courage and - most importantly - emancipatory awareness of the urgency of critical challenge," he adds to Radio Free Europe. In 2021, the Vetëvendosje Movement won over 50% of the vote and the other three major parties remained out of power.

In the February 9 elections, Vetëvendosje came first again, but failed to secure a majority to govern on its own.

The failure to form a government then led to early elections on December 28.

Muhaxhiri points out that the lack of visionary platforms, based on expertise, is replaced by polarization and smearing labels against opponents. According to him, this offensive rhetoric aims to motivate voters through negative emotional charge, minimizing the ethical responsibility to contribute constructively. Demolli, too, sees this as a deliberate strategy: harsh language mobilizes the militant base of the parties and creates a sense of urgency: “If you don’t vote for us, there will be a catastrophe.”

"This pushes people to go out to vote on election day," says Demolli.

To mobilize voters, she says that political parties are increasingly using offensive language towards opponents on social media, where they receive a large number of views and comments.

Thus, "even debates on election programs and important issues such as the budget, education, and healthcare are ignored," according to her.

Clashes on social networks

Alban Zeneli, professor at the Department of Journalism at the University of Pristina, says that political parties, as generators of harsh, offensive and denigrating language, have polarized society.

This polarization is often fueled in television debates, he emphasizes.

"Although we may have a certain role for the media, in terms of softening that language, the main problem lies with the generators of this language, which are the political parties," Zeneli tells Radio Free Europe.

He explains that equating a political opponent with an enemy is a key characteristic of the language used on social networks.

This, according to him, comes at a time known as 'post-truth', or 'beyond the truth', in which "people are no longer interested in listening to objective arguments and facts", but are more interested "in emotionally listening to a narrative that is convenient for them".

"This era in which we are living, which is characterized by what we are discussing, is very appropriate for this political language that politicians are using," Zeneli tells Radio Free Europe.

Sociologist Artan Krasniqi emphasizes that language expresses not only thought, but also action.

Due to the lack of real political offers, according to him, parties play the role of the victim and use blocking and polarizing ideas, which are harmful to society.

"This policy of victimization or the policy of demanding the opponent - I'm not saying the enemy - sounds or is considered effective in mobilizing and electrifying the voter," says the professor of Sociology at the University of Pristina.

He adds that this harsh language, with insults and denigrations, motivates not only party militants, but also ordinary citizens to use the same.

"When they call each other 'scum' or 'sect', they are more likely to speak to their own electorate than to someone else's," says Krasniqi, adding that this language also contradicts civic education and, moreover, polarizes society in a way that endangers democracy itself.

Damage to democracy

Demolli from the FOL Movement also warns about the endangerment of democracy.

Turning public debate into an arena of humiliation promotes "the erosion of democratic culture," according to her.

"Today it starts with politicians, tomorrow it moves to journalists, activists, communities, and everyone. In a word, the line between political criticism and discrimination is starting to become clearer," says Demolli.

For Muhaxhir, denigrating rhetoric also endangers democratic standards, distorts public norms, and reduces the space for government cooperation.

"Discursive radicalization helps create the psychological and social preconditions for the projection of aggressive behavior by politicians towards the electorate, from television studios to homes, institutions and streets," he says.

How to get out of this vortex?

Sociologist Krasniqi emphasizes that all social factors - parties, civil society, media and citizens - must play their role to replace clashes with constructive debate on ideas and programs.

But there is no ready-made recipe: it is a complex process that requires everyone's participation, according to him.

Zeneli warns that past polarization has left Kosovo without institutions for a year and adds that society does not have the luxury of repeating this. Demolli does not expect changes before the elections, but thinks that the media can have an impact by orienting debates towards programs and ideas, not insults, and by establishing criteria that penalize insults on the main screens.

"So, they should establish a rule that anyone who speaks with insults should be interrupted or not invited to the media anymore," she says.

REL's interlocutors expect that, after the December 28 elections, the parties will tone down their rhetoric, but mainly for their own interests, using it as a tool to facilitate post-election coalitions.Radio Free Europe/