No expectations are expressed for major parties to compete in coalitions

Political entities have not yet announced how they will compete in the June 7 elections, alone or in coalition with another political entity. Political commentators estimate that the main parties are expected to compete alone, since coalitions could cause them more harm than good.

Political parties still have six days to formalize the coalitions with which they will be able to run in the early parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7.

However, none of the main political parties announced on Saturday how they would enter the election race. KOHA sent questions to a number of officials, but did not receive a response.

And, experts in political developments estimate that forming coalitions before the elections is unlikely.

University professor Mazllum Baraliu says that the large parties will compete alone, while coalitions will remain with the small parties, especially those that risk crossing the threshold.

"There will hardly be any pre-election coalitions because they are those 'double-edged swords', the people say. That is, as much as they can help, they can also harm the basic parties, the parent parties, let's say conditionally, in whose list they enter", said Baraliu. "For example, in this case, as was the case of Nisma with AAK and instead of the party benefiting, it can lose as AAK lost with Nisma".

In the elections of last February, the AAK-Nisma coalition reached a total of 8 MPs. Of these, 3 MPs belonged to Nisma. The two political entities severed relations immediately after the elections, and in the Assembly they did not even agree to form a joint parliamentary group. And, in the early elections of December 28, 2025, these parties competed separately. AAK received a result of 0.5 percentage points less than in the elections of a few months ago, while it managed to secure 8 MPs. Meanwhile, Nisma did not reach the threshold, and consequently did not receive any mandate in the tenth legislature.

Based on this experience, Baraliu does not express expectations for coalitions.

"Ultimately, I do not expect serious pre-election coalitions, but there can and should be post-election coalitions, if the opposition is truly serious in its claims and its strategy, it should unite after the elections," he said.

Political analyst Basri Muja also says that potential coalitions are expected to form after the elections.

"The deadline for declaring coalitions is expected to be accompanied by tactical moves, but the main political parties will most likely enter the race alone so that there can then be an eventual agreement after the elections. Coalitions may mainly occur, I believe, between small parties and mainly for electoral reasons," said Muja.

During the week, LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku met with former president Vjosa Osmani, who left the party five years ago and, on her initiative, Guxo joined Vetëvendosje. Abdixhiku and other LDK officials, including deputy leader Lutfi Haziri, have announced that she will join for the June 7 elections.

Osmani did not respond to the possibility of forming a new party, participating in a coalition with the LDK or only on its electoral list.

Baraliu does not expect Osmani to compete with any initiative he forms himself, since Guxo has returned to the party and despite Osmani's statements after not running for president again, the political entity has remained loyal to Vetëvendosje.

"It could be an initiative, if it is not agreed with the LDK, but it would be delayed because we do not have time. It is very difficult to create a political party and immediately strengthen it for 45 days so that it has structures, it cannot create structures, so that it has power and the potential and political capacity to compete with other parties that have 35 years of political existential experience, and so on," said Baraliu.

E Muja does not expect Osman's participation in the competition to affect the result.

"It is likely that it will approach or merge with LDK, but I would not expect this to have a major impact on the final result. I do not expect a positive synergy from this merger. I think that the electorate is already relatively consolidated and its effects are more symbolic than decisive for the election result," he said.

In the last elections held on December 28, of the major Albanian parties, only Vetëvendosje entered into a coalition with several smaller parties, such as Guxo, Alternativa, and PSHDK.

So far, only one of the Guxo party's MPs has expressed open support for Osmani. It is Haxhi Avdyli, who was also at the last meeting that Osmani held with Abdixhiku, with the aim of joining forces for the early elections on June 7.

Osmani was president for five years and was not allowed to engage in any party activity from this position. She expressed criticism of Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti when, on the eve of the presidential election, he did not re-nominate her for another term.

Political parties failed to agree on a consensus candidate, and as a result, the Assembly failed to elect a president within the constitutional deadline. After that, this week, the ninth legislature was automatically dissolved, while a day later, early elections were announced.