The chairman of the "Mundësia" party, Agron Shehaj, declared in the "Studio 24" studio that he will not cooperate with the opposition in the 2027 local elections. Shehaj said that when he sees that they want to eliminate this party, there is no possibility of cooperation between the "Mundësia" party and the DP.
"We are talking about electoral systems, if there is a change that needs to be made, it is for the election of mayors," said Shehaj, adding that "Mundësia" will further decide where it will have its candidates for mayor, if any.
He commented on the discussions on the new Electoral Code and the establishment of a 4% threshold for political parties. Shehaj was critical of the proposal, arguing that the current system penalizes new parties and favors large parties.
"The parties that competed alone, Mundësia, received over 3%, Lëvizja Bashkë 1.5%, then the Shabani-Lapaj coalition with 4%. With this system, no party is allowed in," he said.
According to him, claims that electoral reform is in favor of new parties do not hold up in practice.
"I don't understand how it can be said that a system has been created in favor of new parties, when with this system, new parties would have disappeared in the last elections," said Shehaj.
He also raised questions about the political negotiation process itself.
"Why would we go to the table to discuss the murder? The parties gather and say, 'Come on, we have a proposal to eliminate your party?'" he declared.
According to Shehaj, the proposed system aims to limit the space for new parties and strengthen the dominance of the two main political forces.
"The truth is that this system aims to eliminate new parties. This is the concern of the big parties, the DP and the SP, they want to have a monopoly on the opposition and the majority," he said.
He also brought an example from the local elections in Tirana, criticizing the DP's positions.
"For the Municipality of Tirana, we put forward a proposal to defeat Edi Rama. We are bringing out a candidate outside the political parties and we, as the Opportunity Party, support him. Now, after Florjan Binaj emerged as a candidate, Berisha came out the next day and said that he would sit down with Rama to reduce the number of deputies," said Shehaj.
He concluded by saying that it is impossible to have cooperation with parties that, according to him, aim to eliminate new political forces. / BW
