Although colleagues, the candidates for MPs on the open list are in an unprecedented "war" with each other, as one more vote than the "rival" leads to Parliament.
And while the battle on the ground to capture every nominal vote has begun to become fierce, arousing dissatisfaction and also influencing party structures, it has caused the prime minister, also the leader of the Socialist Party, Edi Rama, to draw red lines for his candidates.
Rama has sent a message to the Socialists that no candidate, even a current MP, should use the SP structures of another area to collect personal votes.
"No MP should open their own offices outside the area designated by the political leader. The MP is free to hold meetings wherever they want, but in no way should they use the structure for their meetings. The structure is in function of the common goal, not to become a shooting target for each MP," the Prime Minister's message to the MPs says.
For Edi Rama, the SP is more important than any MP, which is why he has forbidden his own people from translating their friendships into preferential votes for colleagues that the president has thrown into open battle.
"Deputies on the closed list should categorically not ask for votes for any deputy on the open list, but only for number 5. Everyone should be told that you are free to vote for preferential votes! Likewise, it is not good for deputies on the open list to ask their colleagues on the closed list for votes in the relevant area, as the first puts them in a difficult position, the second pushes them towards disrupting the equality of the competition, and the third makes them distort the structure," the socialist leader emphasizes in the message.
With this directive, an SP candidate, who, if assigned unit 5 as an electoral zone, cannot request the assistance of the SP branch in unit 4 to support him with a vote on May 11.