Dominant narratives and online political communication in Kosovo during COVID-19

Political concerns have impacted the messaging goals of local authorities in Kosovo, during the pandemic, COVID-19. In the age of pandemics, the use of online media has increased even more. In Kosovo, according to European statistics, 93% of people have access to the Internet. The most used social media to be informed about current affairs is Facebook, with nearly one million users in a society of 1.8 million people, and politicians make the most of this social media to communicate with the public. Various political actors have tried to create different narratives about political situations, also related to pandemics, COVID-19. The biggest objections existed between the President, Hashim Thaçi and the Prime Minister at that time, Albin Kurti. However, other political leaders, who are also part of the analysis, have been active in social media during this period, along with the Facebook pages of the six political parties, which are represented in the Assembly. The analysis of political communication in Kosovo during the pandemic period becomes even more characteristic due to the fact that at the same time important political developments have occurred, the overthrow of the government, the creation of a new government, and the discussion of relations between Kosovo and the United States. Exactly when all citizens were restricted from moving at a certain time and COVID-19 was less than two weeks when it appeared in Kosovo, the deputies gathered in the Assembly to vote the motion of no confidence. After only 52 days, the government that emerged from the October 2019 elections collapsed and at a time when Kosovo was facing numerous cases of those affected by the virus, COVID-19, which affected the language of political actors, as well as the polarization of further society. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the use of Facebook by the main political actors, with special emphasis on analyzing how much they have discussed COVID-19 or in their online discussion have dominated the messages related to political developments. Two hypotheses have been put forward in this study: H1: The debate on politics has overshadowed the discussion of the fight against COVID-19. H2: Opposition parties used Facebook more to criticize the government than to mobilize society in the fight against COVID-19. Through the analysis of messages on the Facebook pages of six parties and state leaders (the President, the Prime Minister and the Chairwoman of the Assembly), it was analyzed how they used Facebook as a campaign tool and based on the findings, it will be understood what kind of messages it was predominant. The analysis period is March-May 2020, while the posts of political parties and state leaders have been collected using Crimson Hexagon, a social media mining tool.