Skopje, 8 April 2025 (MIA) - First Deputy PM and Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Izet Mexhiti, who is part of the Vlen (Worth It) coalition, said Tuesday that one of the coalition leaders Arben Taravari was aware of the idea for merger of the political parties within the coalition into one entity.

The statement comes after Taravari, who leads one faction of the Alliance for Albanians and is part of the Vlen coalition, said they have not received an offer from Vlen to merge into a single party.

"The idea for a merger was there since the very beginning, but we waited for the right moment to integrate the political structures, ideas and programmes. Mr. Taravari was aware of this and we have been talking about whether to merge Vlen from the top down or vice versa. We already have a joint personnel commission and a joint press center. This is not a new idea, and we did not want to speed up the process or forget about it. Taravari has publicly not included himself as part of the coalition but as its partner, and therefore can negotiate with both Vlen and DUI. In this situation, we said it was time to close the topic of small political parties and set up Vlen as an option that brings about changes for Albanians," said Mexhiti.

Asked if government posts could be reshuffled due to the spat between Vlen and Taravari, Mexhiti said this was a question for Taravari to answer.

"Vlen is united. This is a question for Taravari - is he a part of Vlen or is he negotiating with DUI - it can't be both," said Mexhiti.

According to him, Taravari was outvoted by other coalition entities regarding his proposal that parties within Vlen have separate lists of candidates for the coming local elections.

The Deputy PM said it is not important who leads Vlen but its concept, while adding that voters want to see the coalition merge into one entity.

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