The Socialist Party leadership has made official this Tuesday afternoon the six names of candidates for mayor in the upcoming local elections, including Tirana, Vlora, Berat, Mati, Cerrik and Tepelena.
After the announcement of the names, movements within the majority have immediately begun, because two of the confirmed candidates are currently members of the Albanian Parliament.
Among the main names is Ogerta Manastirliu, Minister of Health and MP for the Tirana region, who will give up her mandate to run in the elections for the Municipality of Tirana. As a result, her seat in Parliament is expected to be taken by Blerina Gjylameti, who has previously been a MP in several legislatures and managed to collect 6,167 preferential votes. In the internal race for the parliamentary elections, Blerina Gjylameti was “head to head” with Olta Xhaçka. After the vote counting process was completed, she addressed the Central Election Commission (CEC) with a request to make available the video footage of the counting in all polling stations in Tirana, for full transparency on the result.
Meanwhile, another change in the ranks of the Socialist Party is expected to occur in the Vlora Region, where MP Brunilda Mersini has been officially announced as a candidate for the Municipality of Vlora. With her candidacy, the MP's mandate will pass to Briseida Çakërri, who is ranked after Mersini on the PS's multi-name list for the Vlora region.
According to official data from the Central Election Commission, Mersin is followed by Klevis Kaso with 5,288 preferential votes, but due to gender quota rules, the mandate cannot be passed to him, but to the most voted woman who comes after him on the list - Briseida Çakërri, who received 2,998 preferential votes.
