Skopje, 7 April 2025 (MIA) – Talks are underway within the VLEN coalition for all political entities that are part of the coalition to transform and merge into VLEN as a political party that will represent Albanians in the upcoming local elections, First Deputy PM and Minister of Environment and Physical Planning Izet Mexhiti said after Monday's meeting of the Ramsar Advisory Mission on the future of Lake Prespa. 

As regards relations among the political entities within the coalition, Mexhiti said no one has any dilemmas, except for the leader of the Alliance for Albanians and Minister of Health, Arben Taravari, who "sees an opportunity for cooperation with the Democratic Union for Integration". 

"Relations with the Minister of Health, Arben Taravari, are good, and we communicate, but everyone should bear in mind that VLEN is the antipode of DUI, i.e. it is a coalition that won the previous parliamentary elections and brought the long-awaited change in the Albanian campus. We are working on that change through to the end, so that the citizens can feel it too… No one has any dilemmas within the coalition, the only one who has dilemmas, who sees an opportunity for cooperation with the Democratic Union for Integration is Taravari, so ask him, but I think that VLEN got the votes, 107,000 votes, as the antipode and as leader of the changes in the Albanian campus. Thus, no one has any dilemmas except Taravari, who needs to clear up the dilemmas. VLEN and cooperation with DUI, I don't think comes natural," Mexhiti pointed out. 

On the lists for the upcoming local elections, Mexhiti noted that the position of all political entities within the coalition is to have a single list, headquarters and program, given that there is already an initiative for all parties within the coalition to merge into a single political party.

"The position of all political entities within VLEN is to run in the elections with joint candidates, joint lists, joint headquarters, program and platform. Somewhere the analysis and assessment show that we should drop out of VLEN and support an independent candidate, we will do that as well. Mayors are elected according to the majority model, while the list system favours the big ones, and it makes no sense when we are already with the big ones to move to the small ones, because that would mean splitting votes, which would go in favour of the Democratic Union for Integration. Then the question arises who we are working for. All political arguments are in favour of running in the elections with joint lists, and given that there is already an initiative for VLEN to merge into a single political party, there is no dilemma that VLEN will have a single list, a single headquarters and a single program," said Mexhiti. 

Photo: MIA