VOA: Elections for the president of the DP amid tensions and division

2023-07-28 21:40:06, Politikë CNA

In Albania, the official Democratic Party will hold elections for its chairman tomorrow, where the former leader who resigned a year ago, Lulzim Basha, and Gjergji Hani, a former persecuted politician, without any previous function in any PD structure, are in the running. The result is clearly expected to confirm Mr. Basha, but the process has led to a deep rift in the heart of those democrats who, until now, had lined up against the group led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha.

The appearance in public, after a long absence, of former democratic leader Lulzim Basha, on May 24, in a meeting with young people in Tirana and the warning of a conversation tour around Albania, was read as a prelude to his return to the head of the Party Democratic official. Exhausted more by the long clashes with the group led by former Prime Minister Sali Berisha than with the ruling socialists, the confrontation with which was overwhelming in the local elections of May 14, this political force was in moments of even more uncertainty. large, after the resignation of Mr. Enkelejd Alibeaj, who had held its leadership.

In his meetings, appearing with a new, sporty appearance, almost always wearing an "Alla Zelensky" t-shirt, Mr. Basha spoke about what he described as a platform for change, although the vast majority of his theses were not new at all. : " Let's open the political race. So the open lists and the second vetting of politicians. No prime minister who cannot achieve his objectives for two terms, cannot do them in a third. On the contrary, things are getting degraded and the example is before your eyes".

These theses accompanied and then his campaign to reclaim the Democratic Party, while facing Mr. Gjergj Hani, formerly persecuted and a name that had its first public appearance two years ago, when the movement of Mr. Fatbardh Kadilli was presented. Democratic Initiative," an effort by a faction within the Democratic Party. Mr. Hani explained that he was running " so that tomorrow, neither Mr. Basha nor the Democrats will have the opportunity to say that we chose Mr. Basha because we had no other alternative." No, there is an alternative."

After several TV appearances, no one is clear about how his campaign was organized, while Mr. Basha stayed somewhat away from publicity. But if the path to his return remained open, the process itself provoked a new rift among those who remained loyal to the official Democratic Party.

From the beginning, two currents appeared openly, one apparently supported by the majority of the group of deputies, for a long-term process that will have to start with the reorganization of the base, and the other, the majority of the presidency, who insisted on holding the elections quickly.

The leadership meeting, held for hours during the night of June 6 until the early hours of the next morning, produced strong tensions inside and outside the offices. After the decision to hold the elections on July 29, the vice president Jorida Tabaku resigned from this position, while the chairman of the parliamentary group Gazmend Bardhi, once the right wing of Mr. Basha, appeared categorically against.

A battle started between the parties, the statute and regulations came into play, for which the parties accused each other of violating them. On July 18, the presidency decided to remove the administration of the party's seal from Mr. Bardhi, who was increasingly seen by its majority as the person who is thought to have made a silent pact with Mr. Berisha. A few days later, Mr. Bardhi announced the call for the meeting of the National Council for July 27.

This act was considered a violation by the Ethics Commission in the Democratic Party, calling the call of the Council invalid. Mr. Bardhi's response, after the organization of the online Council meeting, was dismissive, and after the Council meeting, which took place online, he declared "the cancellation of the process for the election of the DP chairman, announced for July 29. The suspension of the statutory activity of the presidency of the DP, until the verification of the statutory regularity of its composition".

The other side reacted with the same currency. " We wish Mr. Bardhi success, for creating the first digital party in the country. It is an innovative step that should be welcomed. DP, for its part, will continue the normal process of reforming and electing its president on July 29 ", declared Mr. Indrit Sefa, secretary for Legal Affairs in DP.

From tomorrow, Mr. Basha is expected to be called the chairman of the Democratic Party again, but this time he finds a much smaller political force, with only 25,000 members registered to participate in the vote, and moreover with a parliamentary group divided into pieces, between those who are on the side of Mr. Berisha, others who opposed his return, and those who support him, but who will likely no longer be a majority in front of the democratic groups in the hall./ VOA