As 2023 mayoral elections date set, top opposition parties reach coalition deal
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- The first competitive administrative elections in eight years have been set for May 14, 2023.
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TIRANA, Oct. 27, 2022 - Following the setting of May 14, 2023, as the official date for Albania’s municipal elections, the two largest opposition parties have agreed to run joint candidates against the ruling Socialist Party.
The leaders of the Democratic Party and Freedom Party -- Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta -- signed an agreement this week that will allow the two to bring votes together to promote joint candidates.
The Democratic Party will put its mayoral candidates through primary elections, while the Freedom Party is expected to play a greater role in the leadership of municipal councils.
"This is the most principled agreement, which serves democracy, the restoration of constitutional order, accountability and political pluralism," Meta said at the signing ceremony.
The Meta-Berisha deal also foresees the use of central and local referendums to listen to the will of citizens on any issue that concerns them, as well as full accountability and transparency on public funds, decisions of municipal councils and municipalities.
They said they were committed to stopping the massive construction boom of concrete buildings under the current governments, prioritizing green spaces and the health of citizens.
"Referendums and direct democracy is and remains perhaps the most important tool to heal and restore democracy in Albania, which is in complete agony," Berisha said.
The Democratic Party has promised to run primary elections for its members and activists to select the best candidates for mayors, a first in Albanian politics.
First opposition candidates emerge in Tirana
The primary race is expected to be particularly hot in Tirana, where Belind Kellici, a 35-year-old U.S.-educated MP, has already declared his candidacy.
Kellici told local media the battle for Tirana was “do or die” for the opposition as he said it was fighting a massive “system of corruption.”
Another likely opposition candidate for Tirana mayor is Ilir Alimehmeti, a young epidemiologist and university professor in medicine that rose to prominence for his work during the pandemic.
“I don’t enter anything I don’t intend to win,” Alimehmeti told local media.
Whoever emerges victorious in the primaries will likely face incumbent Erion Veliaj, who is seeking a third four-year mandate for the ruling Socialist Party, according to statements by party leader and Prime Minister Edi Rama and Veliaj himself.
Elections set to end single-party rule after 2019 fiasco
The upcoming administrative elections of next year are of special importance following four years of single-party rule by the Socialists, which used a boycott by the opposition to take over almost every mayoral and municipal council seat across the country in voting that saw participation of less than 10 percent of eligible voters in some areas of the country.
The administrative elections 2019 were seen by many as the worst the country has ever held as the opposition boycotted and the ruling party decided to hold them anyway, despite a new, later date, set by the then president.
International monitors noted Albania’s 2019 local elections “were held with little regard for the interests of the electorate.”
By-elections in Shkodra earlier this yeas had the Democratic Party convincingly win the mayoral seat in its traditional stronghold, making it the first major Albanian city not being ruled by the Socialists.
