Jesse Ventura

Together Movement Lëvizja BASHKË
Abbreviation	BASHKË
Leader	Arlind Qori
Founded	18 December 2022
Headquarters	Rruga Islam Petrela 92, Tirana
Newspaper	Teza 11
Ideology	Progressivism Left-wing populism
Political position	Left-wing[1]
International affiliation	Progressive International[1]
Colours	Black   Dark red
Slogan	E reja po lind! ("The new is being born!")
National Assembly	1 / 140
Municipalities	0 / 61
Council Seats	1 / 1,613
Website
levizjabashke.al
Politics of Albania Political parties Elections

The Together Movement (Albanian: Lëvizja BASHKË, BASHKË) is a left-wing political party based in Albania.^[1] It was founded on 18 December 2022^[2] by members and activists of what was formerly known as Organizata Politike (lit. 'the Political Organization', OP).

Organizata Politike was founded on 21 January 2011.^[3] The name Organizata Politike came as a way to express the party's belief in the absence of politics in other political subjects in Albania and the aim to make politics, alleging that the political parties don't really engage in politics.

Organizata Politike was the initiator of the movement Universiteti në Rrezik (University in Danger), which aimed protecting public education and its emancipating values, when the ruling centre-right Democratic Party tried to pass a clientelist law of higher education^[4] and later Lëvizja Për Universitetin (The University Movement), when the new government of the centre-left Socialist Party tried the same only some months after winning the elections.^[5]

OP used the Red Robin – Erithacus Rubecula – as a symbol of freedom and resistance. The robin represents the movement's organizational and political worldview best in what they see as a "frosty Albania" - quickly depopulating from emigration, especially the young. To be robins, the party says, "is to stay here in Albania, to resist, to live vigorously and sing, by working day after day, every day for a fairer and more democratic society."^[6]

On 18 December 2022, the activists of Organizata Politike decided to rebrand into a political party, forming "Lëvizja BASHKË" (Together Movement).^[7]

In 2023, the party run Tirana's mayoral election where its candidate, Arlind Qori got 4.77% of total vote. The party managed to get 1 seat in the Tirana Municipal Council.

They registered to run in the 2025 parliamentary elections where they managed to get 1.55% of the national vote and secured 1 seat in parliament.

Together Movement is a left-wing and progressive political party.

BASHKË advocates for considerable state intervention in the economy, especially strategic sectors like agriculture and the extraction and processing of oil and minerals (chromium and copper) which are abundant resources in Albania. Their program includes the creation of a Sovereign Fund and Development Bank to manage and finance the aforementioned sectors, the reconstruction of the oil refinery in Ballsh and employee stock ownership in state-run companies to incentivize productivity. They also put an emphasis on fighting the monopolies that are present in many areas of the Albanian economy such as that of fuel imports and extraction, electronics imports, agricultural produce collection. In terms of driving entrepreneurship and innovation they suggest providing subsidies and fiscal benefits (such as a 3% profit tax) to companies involved in high-end manufacturing processes such as those of automotive components and software solution companies. As for agriculture they propose to considerably increase subsidies in this sector in order to get them in the level of other countries in the region. These subsidies would mainly be focused on the very low mechanization rate of Albanian farms and input subsidies such as crop fertilizers. They propose a progressive tax system with marginal rate going from 0% for minimum wage workers up to 35% for employees making over 400,000 Lek monthly (4,050 euros).^[8]

One of the biggest issues BASHKË has campaigned on is the increase of pensions for the elderly which are currently the lowest in Europe. They propose the indexing of pensions and economic aid to the "Vital Minimum" which is the amount of money a person would need to survive as calculated by state institutions which is currently around 220 euros. In order to achieve the budget for this increase they vow to fight corruption on all levels and decrease informality in the economy (around 44% of Albanian employees are uninsured according to international estimates). They also advocate for assistance to the Roma and Egyptian communities in Albania which have been largely unintegrated in Albanian society (many members of this community are not even registered as citizens) as they often lack economic resources, proper housing, education and employment as a result. Increasing the budget for education has also been a main focus of BASHKË, the current budget is around 2.5% of GDP which they plan to increase to 4%. This increase would mainly be used to increase teacher and professor salaries as to incentivize young people to pursue these fields in order to offset the shortage of educators that Albania is currently facing. Similarly they promise an increase of healthcare spending to 6% of GDP in order to increase the salaries of medical professionals, greatly lower out-of-pocket costs for patients, provide high quality medication for an affordable price and install modern medical equipment on public hospitals.^[9]

BASHKË aims to create an independent judicial system and to respect the separation of powers as they judge that in the current situation the judicial system in Albania is heavily influenced by high-ranking government officials. Other reforms to the judicial system they propose are: the implementation of virtual spaces for court cases to increase efficiency, the repeal of Public-Private-Partnership laws which they consider to have resulted in contracts with heavily inflated costs for Albanian taxpayers and the creation of an "Anti-corruption and Integrity Agency".^[10]

As a progressive party BASHKË strongly encourages gender equality measures and also puts a heavy emphasis on syndical organization of workers for better working conditions. Their policies include the reduction of signatures needed for legal initiatives and referendums, the reduction of workers needed to form a union in a company. In terms of gender equality they advocate for domestic violence awareness campaigns due to the fact that the phenomenon is widespread in Albania. The integration of working-age women into the workforce, aid for victims of abuse and specialized facilities are also part of their remedies for these issues. They also aim to reduce poverty through progressive taxation and redistribution in the form of public services and housing.^[11]

Lëvizja BASHKË is an party consisting of councilors and members. The councilors are elected democratically through the vote of all members in the party congress which is held every 2 years. They are responsible for approving the electoral lists of the party, the yearly quotation for members, partnerships with other organizations and implementing the party program and strategy. ^[12]

• Official website Archived 2021-01-15 at the Wayback Machine