The leader of the Environmentalist Agrarian Party, Agron Duka, made a strong statement last night, where he declared that he may decide to withdrew from the next elections due to incriminated persons on the Socialist lists. “The situation in the area of Shijak […] continues to be the same. If the situation will continue to be the same, I will bring facts, that criminals, perhaps public and famous names, are part of the electoral campaign of the Socialist Party. Very dangerous elements […] this is the greatest crime that could happen to Albanians,” said Duka, who is currently positioned second in line in the Democratic Party candidate list in the Durrës County. Duka continued by saying that “If we continue with the same script, Albania will make backwards steps. I take the responsibility as a candidate for MP that in the near future if these names that I will continue to denounce will continue to be on the lists, I myself will withdraw from the race, because then it will be impossible to win if the situation will continue to be like that,” said Duka.
Duka’s declaration came only one day after the U.S Ambassador, Yuri Kim, said that some candidates may be disqualified from entering the next elections after the vetting process. “There are three people that the U.S. Secretary of State has designated. I will not carry their names in my mouth, but you can find the record for yourself […] It’s now with the Central Election Commission, and it’s their job, along with the prosecutors, to vet these candidates,” said Kim, adding that it shouldn’t come as a surprise if “some candidates are disqualified after that process.”
The Ambassador further declared that the US has repeatedly called for clean candidates and the full implementation of the decriminalisation law. “This is not about whether the United States likes someone or doesn’t like someone. It’s about whether the Secretary of State has determined – after extensive research, information, and time – that someone is a threat to U.S security. And if someone is a threat to U.S security, I think it’s worthwhile for Albanian voters and Albanian authorities to consider whether this person could be a threat to your security,” said Kim.
After the U.S Ambassador, the EU Ambassador Soreca also wrote to Twitter that “It is now up to the Central Election Commission, in consultation with the General Prosecution office, to vet the candidates. Decriminalisation law must be fully applied and high integrity standards for all candidates must be met.”
Some of the names proposed by the Socialist majority in the next parliamentary elections, include the current MP Ilir Ndraxhi, whose name was mentioned in the wiretaps of the infamous 339 file on drug trafficking and vote-buying in Shijak, and Rrahman Rraja, whose family members and nephews have had various issues with the Albanian and international justice. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party has publically asked the Central Election Commission to now allow Tom Doshi in the list of candidates for the Social-Democratic Party, since he has been a subject of the decriminalisation law, and is banned from entering the U.S.
Criticism against Rama came not only from the opposition but even from some of the highest figures of the Socialist Party, such as the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Ditmir Bushati. Last week was leaked a conversation between Bushati and Prime Minister Rama, where Bushati asked Rama to not put on the lists “persons related to incinerators, financial bloodshed, concrete washing machine, crime and PPP”. Although Bushati has been widely complimented by Rama for his role in foreign affairs, he was not part of the final list of the Socialist Party for the next elections, with the motivation that he did not contribute enough to the party’s interests in the last years.
