TIRANA, May 11 – Two small conservative parties which had for years ran in a coalition with the Democrats — the Balli Kombetar and the Legalists – have said they are running their own municipal candidates in the upcoming elections, leaving the Democratic Party coalition.
They said the Democrats had showed lack of willingness to cooperate with their longtime allies.
The Democrats are running a smaller coalition in these elections, after another party representing the Cham community also jumped ship, running with the Socialists instead.
It is not atypical in Albanian politics for small parties to shift royalties in search for favors and political mandates.
The governing Socialists have managed to create a huge coalition as a result with almost 37 political parties joining force to collect every possible ballot.
It is vital for the political groupings to collect as many votes as possible not only to elect their mayors, but also to get the majority in the municipality councils.
