Albania’s Democratic Party needs to thrive in opposition, and it needs internal democracy and a western-minded leadership to do so
TIRANA TIMES EDITORIAL
Emerging from its deep defeat in the June 23 parliamentary elections won’t be easy for Albania’s Democratic Party. It faces an uphill struggle as Albanian voters resoundingly decided to send back to opposition status the party that has been ruling the country for the past eight years.
However, with three-fifths of seats in parliament now belonging to the Socialist-led coalition, the country needs a strong opposition that is loyal to the country’s best interests. Thus a thriving and reformed Democratic Party is important for Albania, but just the party itself. But the party needs to change its ways to thrive. It needs internal democracy and a western-minded leadership that prizes consensus and cooperation over conflict.
As the Democratic Party is preparing to select a new leader, Tirana Mayor Lulzim Basha and Transport Minister Sokol Olldashi appear to be the two main candidates in the race to succeed the party’s historic leader, Sali Berisha, who resigned from the post last week after taking responsibility for the defeat in the elections.
For long time, Berisha’s name has been synonymous with the Democratic Party. His stated intent to leave the leadership is to be commanded as one of the most important gestures in post-communist Albanian democracy. With Berisha’s departure, Albania has closed an era and ended a political model that was based primarily on conflict and authoritarianism. As such, for democracy to fully come back to the Democrats, Berisha must truly depart from the party’s leadership, not only officially but in spirit as well.
Any candidate that tries to imitate Berisha’s style would be a failure not only for the Democrats but for Albania in general. Berisha’s type of leadership inside the party must be one that now belongs in the past. As such it is important that the elections that take place inside the Democratic Party truly reflect the will of its membership and wider society.
The future of the politics in Albania needs to be based on consensus and led by the right person with the right capacity for this new political model.
Tirana Mayor Lulzim Basha is clearly among the most western-minded figures in the Democratic Party and appears to be the candidate most likely to be elected. He has a good image domestically and internationally, and we believe would do the best job in the field of candidates.
Basha has been a very successful foreign minister, for example, has run some important government portfolios and is getting top executive experience at the helm of Tirana’s largest city government.
The only problem with Basha is the perception that he has been handpicked by Berisha to succeed him. Berisha has never said so publicly, but Basha’s ability to lead – or for that matter the ability of anyone to lead the Democratic Party – will depend largely on Berisha’s willingness to fully step aside. One thing is certain, however, Basha’s style and image are very different from those of Berisha.
Olldashi’s chances of winning are fewer. He has as more experience in parliament, with four MP mandates under his belt, but he lacks the sort of wide popularity and soft image power Netherlands-educated Basha enjoys. Olldashi is the type of leader that hardcore activists might support but who would have a hard time winning elections with the populace at large.
At the end of the day, what happens with the Democratic Party is important for the future of politics in Albania. If the party goes the modern, western-minded and the consensus way, Albania is better off. If it reverts back to conflict and authoritarianism, it risks becoming irrelevant and damaging the country’s political system in the process.
