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Pre-election alliances and 100% open lists energize hope for change!

2024-07-24 20:31:00, Opinione Bujar Leskaj

Pre-election alliances and 100% open lists energize hope for change!

Bujar Leskaj

In the current talks on the electoral code for the general elections of 2025, the Democratic Party must insist, as a non-negotiable condition, on allowing pre-election alliances and 100 percent open lists.

This is my personal opinion. In the 2021 elections, Rama violated the Agreement of June 5, 2020, concluded at the headquarters of the American Embassy in Tirana, negotiated for five consecutive months at the initiative of the USA and the European Union. The 12-point agreement of June 5, 2020 determined that every issue for the electoral reform had to go through the Political Council's table.

I. How the Electoral Code of Rames damaged and suppressed the energy of the opposition on April 25, 2021

On July 21, 2020, Rama made changes to the Electoral Code, brazenly violating the June 5 Agreement. With these changes, Rama avoided the Political Council set up by the Agreement and decided a priori to prevent pre-election coalitions and 100 percent open lists in the general elections of April 25, 2021.

Rama accomplished this, in the nose of the internationals, without asking the opposition and without obtaining its agreement, as required by Item 10 of the Agreement. He tore up the Agreement, deceiving the international factor and all the Albanians, who were promised that it was for pre-election coalitions and completely open lists.

This situation should not and does not have to be repeated with next year's elections. Pre-election coalitions expand and energize the base of the opposition, as well as empower citizens to call for change. Entering the electoral race with such coalitions is a natural right of the political forces participating in the race in a democratic country.

With the changes to the Electoral Code on July 21, 2020, Rama not only violated 10 of the 12 points of the Agreement of June 5, 2020, but denied the opposition political agreements before the race, pre-election coalitions. Without the changes to the Electoral Code, without this fraud on the part of Rama towards the internationals and citizens of the country, the united opposition would surely have won the elections of April 25, 2021.

II. The necessity of 100 percent open lists for electoral democracy in the country

The current proportional regional electoral system with closed lists, in which Albanians choose a party, while the party chooses the deputies who will be sent to the Assembly, was established 16 years ago with the constitutional amendments of April 2008, with the arguments that the system creates stability in governance of the country and removes the possibility of involvement in electoral contests of persons who have problems with justice.

Indeed, both of these arguments were refuted by the history of these 16 years of governing the country by the system of closed lists. In 2016, we were forced to adopt the Decriminalization Law, precisely because of the huge number of people with criminal records who entered the Parliament in 2013, through closed lists, mainly in those of the Socialist Party.

The closed lists did not even create stability in the government. Ministers were continuously changed and governments, especially socialist ones, were involved in successive scandals.

But the biggest problem that we have as citizens, and that the Democratic Party also has with closed lists, is that the Assembly of Albania, the institution that in a democratic system should control the government, turned into a weak institution and an ordinary notary of the president of the party in government.

The role and weight of the party member or interest groups within the base of the party, in the decision-making of who will be sent as a representative to the Parliament and who will not, was lost.

Of course, it is difficult for the country to switch to a democratic electoral system, after the autocracy of party leaders in the last 16 years. The Democratic Party must take the courage and responsibility to demand as a non-negotiable condition the opening of 100 percent of the lists of candidates for deputies.

Of course, this has costs for us, its current deputies, but it is the best thing to do, for the Democratic Party itself and the country.

The DP should not fall into the trap of the technicalities of the SP with and without the times, or its proposals for partially open lists.

III. PD is not a swamp, to accept election codes that suppress the opposition!

SP's argument for partially open electoral lists, allegedly to have gender quotas and to support the presence of MPs in Parliament, does not stand. An example of this is Kosovo, which has an electoral system with 100 percent open lists and also with gender quotas.

In the talks on the Electoral Code, the Democratic Party must never allow the repetition of Rama's mafia-style operation, as on July 21, 2020.

100 percent open lists mean the development of primaries in the party, and the regenerative movement of the Reestablishment brings us a precious example of the mobilizing force and belief in change, which primaries have.

Exclusion of Prof. Dr. Sali Berishes was a dirty shot of the Rama-McGonigal-Soros-Basha foursome. It took us three years to fully understand this reality. We as democrats cannot agree not to fully release the opposition energies for change, not to unite the majority of Albanians around the cause for change, after 12 years of irresponsible and scandalous governance by the Rama sect,

The opposition party cannot be a swamp, where nothing moves in the race for victory. Without pre-election coalitions to energize the hope for change, as well as without 100 percent open lists of candidates, where supporters of the united opposition can see with their own eyes and be convinced of the candidates for change, we will have a very difficult time, if not even impossible, to win and achieve change./ CNA