TIRANA, March 16, 2023 – The Complaints and Sanctions Commission (KAS), the appeals body under Albania’s Central Election Commission, ruled Thursday that the Democratic Party represented by delegated leader, Enkelejd Alibeaj, should be registered in the upcoming mayoral elections.
KAS also rejected the request of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha to register in the local elections as legal representative of the DP, Albania’s largest opposition party.
The two DP factions have been fighting in the courts and election bodies to be legal representatives of the party.
DP’s majority grouping, led by Mr. Berisha, says the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama is using the divisions inside the opposition and influence in the judiciary to try to harm DP’s chances in the upcoming elections.
The Berisha-led DP says its candidates will be running in under a different coalition label, Bashke Fitojme (Together we Win), with the Freedom Party and other smaller allies, as they did in the previous byelections when faced with the same situation.
KAS ruled Mr. Alibeaj is the legal chairman of the party and represents the DP in the elections, having the right to sign the documents required by the law, such as solemn declarations and other procedures.
Elections State Commissioner Ilirjan Celibashi had earlier not registered the Democratic Party for the upcoming local elections, as its leader is still in the court records listed as Lulzim Basha, who resigned last year, naming Mr. Alibeaj has his acting successor. Mr. Celibashi said that documents should have been signed by Mr. Basha, and not by the person to whom he had delegated the powers.
Commissioner Celibashi’s decision was appealed to KAS, and the latter ruled in favor of Mr. Alibeaj.
On the other hand, KAS rejected the request of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha to register in the local elections as a representative of an electoral subject.
The election commissioner, Ilirjan Celibashi, made the same decision a few days ago, who assessed that Mr. Berisha’s request was not based on the law and there were no certified records from the court.
But his legal representative, Ledio Nuraj, stated that he would further appeal to other institutions, calling today’s decision of the KAS absurd.
“KAS took judicial powers without right and did what the court has not yet managed to do. KAS gave Mr. Alibeaj that status, which he himself did not ask for. This will absolutely be appealed to the electoral college,” Mr. Nuraj said.
Mr. Alibeaj again invited all the DP candidates to unite and appear with a DP candidate in the local elections, leaving aside the grudges of the faction war that has left the party deeply divided.
Mr. Alibeaj, however, only represents a minority group within the party, public opinion polls and recent election results show, with the majority of members following Mr. Berisha as leader.
DP has seen years of internal turmoil following its previous leaderships’ decision to resign from parliament and boycott the last mayoral elections. It then lost the April 25, 2021 general elections for an unprecedented third time.
The factions split when the U.S. State Department in May 2021 publicly designated Mr. Berisha as an official banned from entering the United States due to involvement in “high-level corruption.” Mr. Berisha maintains the ban was a result of a smear campaign orchestrated by Prime Minister Rama to keep the opposition weak.
Mr. Basha announced in September 2021 that Mr. Berisha, the perennial leader, would be expelled from the DP parliamentary group. The decision led to Mr. Berisha launching a comeback movement within the ranks of the Democrats against Mr. Basha and taking over the structures and headquarters of the party.
