Berisha-led faction takes over Albania’s main opposition party
Story Highlights
- Court ruling, Basha resignation and electoral showing open way for the faction to take control of the party until an official vote for the chairmanship is held.
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TIRANA, March 28, 2022 – A faction of the main opposition Democratic Party led by Sali Berisha, the former prime minister and president, has officially taken control of the party following a court ruling in its favor and the formal resignation of the incumbent chairman, Lulzim Basha.
The faction, officially known as the DP Re-Establishment Commission, now controls the party based on an assembly it held last December, which was accepted as official by a Tirana court ruling.
A group of party officials now control the party until a race for leadership can be held.
Berisha has been clear he intends to be reelected as chairman of the party, countering calls that withdraw and allow younger candidates with less baggage to run.
“We will return to a free vote,” Berisha said Sunday, as he launched a new national tour meeting party members across Albania.
Berisha, 76, has said he will make sure the Democratic Party returns to power. He also said DP would return to massive street protests against the Socialist Party government of Edi Rama.
While Berisha, the party’s perennial leader, is likely to win a vote from the membership, other factions are concerned that he is unable to perform well with the general public, according to opinion polls.
Enkelejd Alibeaj, who leads the party’s parliamentary group and served as caretaker leader after Basha’s resignation, urged Berisha to withdraw for the good of unity and the party.
“DP cannot protect its members’ interests by having … a chairman who has been declared ‘non-grata’ by the United States,” Alibeaj said.
DP has seen months of internal turmoil following the loss of the April 25, 2021 general elections for an unprecedented third time. Shortly after the elections, the U.S. State Department publicly designated Berisha, who had not held public office since 2013, as involved in “high-level corruption.”
Berisha has repeated that the decision is unjust and not based in facts and that U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had been influenced “by the lobbying of George Soros to help Edi Rama.” He says that “not a single piece of evidence is published that I or my children have benefited from even a penny,” adding I “remain a proud Albanian, unwavering in my belief in the sovereignty of my country.”
U.S. officials have repeatedly said the decision is based on evidence collected over a long period of time, and have said they would not even meet with Berisha if he becomes the opposition’s official leader.
However, the timing of the decision raised some eyebrows among independent observers based on the fact that Berisha had not been in power for eight years at the time.
Basha resigned as DP leader on March 22, after holding the post for almost nine years and leading the party to repeat losses in elections. The resignation was forced by him losing all support among MPs previously loyal to him as by-elections on March 6 made it clear the faction Basha led had little support left among party members when a competing coalition led by Berisha delegated DP to third place.
