Last night, a few hours after the Constitutional Court dashed any hopes for early elections in the Municipality of Tirana, Ilir Alimehmeti reacted publicly on Facebook with a short message: “Good evening friends, we will not stop.” In the photo, he appears next to Florian Binaj, the independent candidate who was supported by several opposition parties in the race planned by Edi Rama for Tirana.
After Belind Këlliçi was removed from the political leadership of the Democratic Party for Tirana, Alimehmeti has taken on the role of representative of the democratic structures in the capital. And apparently, the choice to align himself with Binaj again signals not only their political rapprochement, but also Alimehmeti's ambition to remain a factor in the upcoming local battle, expected in about a year and a half.
However, questions naturally arise: Does Alimehmeti really believe that the Democratic Party will hold an open race for its candidate in Tirana? Or is this more of a declaration of political enthusiasm, born of the moment and destined to fade in the face of the DP's realpolitik, where key decisions are often made away from the primaries process?
After his exclusion from the race with Erion Veliaj in the last primaries, a decision that paved the way for the candidacy of Belind Këlliçi as Sali Berisha's favorite, Alimehmeti seems to continue to seek his political space in the capital. While Binaj, with his profile as a young and independent figure, remains Alimehmeti's close alternative in a fragmented opposition.
In the end, it remains to be seen whether this positioning is the beginning of a new political project for Tirana, or just another chapter in the opposition's internal tension over its candidacies and leadership.
