The central government coalition has reached an agreement to run joint candidates in the upcoming administrative local elections, with 15 mayoral seats reserved for the Socialist Movement for Integration, the Socialist Party’s junior coalition partner
TIRANA, March 19 – The two largest political forces in Albania’s ruling leftist coalition, the Socialist Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration, have agreed to run joint candidates across the country in the upcoming June 21 local administrative elections, with 15 candidates out 61 being proposed by the SMI.
The Socialist Party chairman, Prime Minister Edi Rama, announced the agreement in a press conference.
“As the Socialist Party, we expect proposals from SMI for these [15] municipalities,” Rama said.
The largest municipalities to go to SMI candidates included Berat, Gjirokastra, Pogradec, Kucova and Lezha. Most of these areas are leftist strongholds.
The agreement formula provides that each party has the right to propose a number of candidates, and then a consensus candidate would run against the center-right or independent candidates in the election.
The Socialist Party will continue talks with other parties, and aims to have within March a list with the names of candidates.
Rama said that the challenge is to select quality candidates regardless of party affiliation.
SMI leader Ilir Meta echoed that sentiment.
“The main concern is that the administrative-territorial reform, to be crowned with success through choosing the best administrators, who for the first time will have the opportunity to direct the new units,” Meta said.
This time, mayoral elections they will be held based on a new territorial division of the country, from 384 municipalities and communes before to just 61, which the leftist majority has said will cut costs and also increase efficiency of their management.
That also means that the new mayors will be very powerful and run a greater area and population than ever before.
The two leaders, Rama and Meta met over the weekend to discuss the upcoming elections and the names of the potential candidates.
The two leaders said they had completed only the first stage of coordination of the work, adding they will test the names for local support when compiling a final list.
Both Rama and Meta also said they had discussed certain candidates for most of the cities, but the big prize – Tirana – remains in the air.
The two leaders also pledged that they would try to increase the number of female candidates.
Rama did not deny that a woman could be the leftist mayoral candidate for Tirana.
Despite a law asking that one-third of the members of the town hall councils should be women, the number has not even come close, and parties have been fined in the past under the law.
