TIRANA, April 5 – The chairman of Democratic Party, Lulzim Basha, is not enthusiastic over the sudden support of the Socialist Movement for Integration in regards to the request for guarantees for free and fair elections.
Ilir Meta suggested that SMI was willing to give its government mandates to the Democrats as a guarantee for elections, but Basha dismissed the proposal saying that “dialogue will not be a dirty bargain between politicians.”
“We demand political dialogue through European standards for free and fair elections, so we put an end to the old republic, old ways and everything that is rotten in this country,” Basha said.
Unlike other declarations, on Wednesday, Basha failed to mention the requirement for a caretaker government when he vowed that “this would be a crucial week for the objective of free and fair elections.”
The political situation in Albania is marred by a lot of uncertainty in regards to dialogue. On Wednesday evening, Basha held another meeting with opposition parties to talk about a potential prime minister of a caretaker government. Basha said that the head of such an interim government should not be from the ranks of politics.
Earlier this week, the opposition made a request to postpone the elections till a caretaker government is formed, which, according the opposition, would guarantee the holding of free and fair elections.
Prime Minister Rama said that “there is no way that elections scheduled on June 18 would be postponed.”
In his address to the Socialist Party Assembly Rama said the protest was Democratic Party’s choice, and Albanians would make their own choice on June 18.
Rama accused the opposition of hampering the implementation of the justice reform, perceived as a key step towards Albania’s European Union integration process.
Albania is going to have by-mayoral elections in the city of Kavaja on May 7 and both the Democratic Party and SMI have refused to register at the election body for these elections.
Meanwhile, the opposition parties have come up with a common decision not to participate in June 18 elections.
