The leader of the “Shqipëria Bëhet” movement, Adriatik Lapaj, confirmed that it will continue to support the candidacy of Florian Binaj for Tirana Municipality in the 2027 local elections, despite the change in the position of the Democratic Party, which now demands that the opposition back a political candidate. Speaking to Report TV, Lapaj said the agreement reached last year to support independent candidate Florian Binaj remains in force for the movement he leads.
“When we decided to run for Tirana, we agreed to support candidate Florian Binaj. We still stand by that. They have changed their minds now. Now you’re asking me to account for what the others did”, Lapaj said.
He ruled out the possibility of “Shqipëria Bëhet” supporting a candidate proposed by the DP, challenging the latter to unite around a candidacy proposed by them. “We do not accept voting for a DP candidate. No. Let the DP come and support a candidate of ours. We propose Dorina Prethi”, said the leader of “Shqipëria Bëhet”.
Lapaj also called for new parties and citizens who have taken part in protests to unite, with the aim of building a common alternative for the local elections. According to him, cooperation can be achieved through joint candidacies for mayors, while each political force can keep its identity in the race for municipal councils.
“I agree that today, to unite the votes. These elections are for the citizen, for the administration of the city. This means that for municipal councils each of us runs with our own list, while for mayor we can agree that in a certain municipality we run with joint candidates”, Lapaj said.
He also did not rule out holding primaries as a mechanism for selecting the candidates who will represent this alliance in the country’s municipalities. The statements about Florian Binaj come at a time when the opposition’s positions on the Tirana race appear to be divided, while Lapaj insists that the initial agreement must be respected.