Berisha concedes election defeat, resigns from Democratic Party leadership

TIRANA, June 26 – The most dominant political figure of Albania’s post-communist period, Prime Minister Sali Berisha, conceded election defeat late Wednesday, taking personal responsibility for the heavy loss to the rival Socialist-led coalition.
Berisha, who had been seeking a third straight term as prime minister in Sunday’s general election, also announced to party supporters he would step down as leader of his center-right Democratic Party. He said he would organize the election for the new party leadership in September.
The 68-year-old’s party was beaten handily. With nearly all of the votes counted, Socialist Edi Rama was ahead with 53 percent, compared to just 36 percent for the Democrats, or some 84 seats for the Socialist-led coalition out of 140 seats in the parliament.
“We have lost these elections. Believe me, the responsibility for this falls on one person נon me, Sali Berisha,” he said, wiping sweat from his brow. “I stand in front of you to say that the election result is clear. Of course I accept it and the Democratic Party accepts it.”
Socialist leader Rama, 48, gained popularity as mayor of the capital Tirana for more than a decade. He campaigned on an ambitious pledge to earn Albania candidate status within a year to eventually join the European Union.
“This victory is … only the start. That change will not come overnight and easily. All together we should work and sacrifice to make it happen,” Rama said, also addressing his party supporters late Tuesday.
Albania, once one of the world’s most reclusive countries during its communist years, became a NATO member in 2009 and has applied for European Union candidate status. But so far, its bid has been denied over criticism it has not done enough to fight corruption and push through democratic reforms. Berisha was hurt by Rama’s anti-corruption focus as the country struggles to weather the effects of recessions in nearby Greece and Italy, where many Albanian migrants work to provide remittances back to their impoverished country.
Having been elected president twice in the 1990s, Berisha remained a divisive figure, praised by supporters as the politician who stabilized post-Communist Albania, but branded by opponents as a populist who tolerated corruption. A cardiologist, Berisha’s reputation fell by Albania’s 1997 uprising following the collapse of pyramid banking schemes that saw many Albanians lose their savings and triggered violence that required an international peacekeeping force to quell.
International election monitors said the Balkan country had made significant improvements in the June 23 vote, despite a fatal shooting that occurred on voting day outside a polling station in northern Albania.
Improving the election process was a central condition set by the EU to advance negotiations aimed at the country’s eventual membership.
Berisha’s remarks eased tension over the country’s Central Election Commission which has yet to officially certify the results.
The parties were at odds over the commission’s membership ahead of the vote. Three opposition members had pulled out of the body in April in a dispute over Berisha’s replacement of a commission member.
But with Berisha conceding, officials among the Socialist Party have said they will almost certainly certify the vote.
Berisha will remain prime minister until the transition ends in September.