TIRANA, July 5 – Albania’s Democratic Party will hold the election of the party’s chairman on July 22, a race that will have only two contenders, after requests by others who asked for a longer period to campaign were dismissed. A special internal group has been set up to organize the election.
The move followed a meeting of the Democratic Party’s steering committee, where it was decided that the incumbent leader, Lulzim Basha, will compete against Eduard Selami, a former chairman and member of parliament.
Absent from the race will be former lawmaker Astrit Patozi who had set conditions to his candidacy by asking for a series of guarantees that would secure a fair and equal race.
The race has already been controversial with a large group of well-known figures within the party seeing it as unfair and favoring Basha, who they say should have resigned after leading the party to the worst electoral defeat in its 27-year history.
Critics say the time available is not long enough to guarantee a real electoral process, making the primary election a farce by which Basha intends to receive a second term under the table. So far, Basha has not publicly responded to the numerous attacks on him.
DP Vice Chairman Edi Paloka said the selection of the new chairman will be democratic and will allow the party to come together. He said disagreements at the meeting and the split vote decision showed there was a healthy diversity of opinions in the party.
The opposition group’s request to postpone the election and to allow for a full analysis of the electoral loss, failed with in a vote.
Among critics in the steering committee, Jamarber Malltezi requested the party fully analyze the outcome of the election and said it was ridiculous that the process of selecting a new chairman had to take place in such a hurry.
Majlinda Bregu also requested an internal discussion on the outcome of the election. She said the split inside the party had started four years ago and is getting wider, which might lead to an official split in the party, making the opposition even weaker.
