TIRANA, April 5 – In an interview for German media Deutsche Welle on Thursday, head of the opposition’s Democratic Party Lulzim Basha said the united opposition will not be returning back to the parliament and that the political crisis is real, but also an opportunity to finally give Albanians a democratic system if the Socialist government resigns.
“The first instrument is to have a political process free from the influence of crime. This can only happen through a free and fair transition and new elections that will guarantee Albania and Albanians a parliament coming from their vote, and not, as the official prosecution evidence shows, out of the narcotics networks, which international media has also widely reported,” Basha said.
During his official Berlin visit, Basha conducted meetings in Bundestag with the German federal government, where he said the country can’t head to Europe by lying and having ties with organized crime networks.
“Overcoming this crisis is very important not only for Albania’s stability and democracy, but also for its European future. You cannot go to Europe by lying, by cheating, with a state captured by crime. You go there with values, with the truth, with a state liberated from mal governance in cooperation with crime and with a parliament elected by the vote of the Albanian citizens,” Basha said.
According to Basha, the time has passed to solve the issue of ballot buying, for which it accuses the Socialist government and Prime Minister Edi Rama, inside the parliament, as according to the opposition the parliament is invalid and powered by drug money.
“Democracy’s foundation is its vote, when the vote falls, democracy has fallen as well. What File 339 shows, small parts of which have also been published by international media, is that in the 2017 elections organized crime in cooperation with the Socialist umbrella have destroyed Albanians’ will. The fact this parliament is not a product of the Albanian vote but the product of co-operation with crime that has brought about a total abandonment, a betrayal of the public interest by a government that has tied itself not to Albanian citizens, but to organized crime,” Basha said.
Further on, he said the opposition’s decision to resign its parliamentary mandates came after the opposition had exhausted any possibilities for an institutional solution to the problem.
“I remind you that German partners in the German Bundestag recognize these problems, we have raised these concerns a long time ago, since almost a year. Unfortunately, things this year did not improve, but have deteriorated. Not only that, but now we have official evidence of government cooperation with organized crime. The opposition’s abandonment of parliament is without a return, the political crisis is real, but this is an opportunity, a great opportunity, not just to remove a crime-related government, but to give Albanians a democratic, functional system that serves them and not just the political parties or simply the political class,” Basha said.
DW also asked Basha concerning the electoral reform, which has been stalled due to the deadlock the country is facing with the opposition’s protests and parliament resignation, as well as the blocked courts, under the ongoing vetting process which has disqualified a big part of Albanian judges and prosecutors.
“These are symptoms of state seizure by organized crime. This is what the US State Department reports, these are the concerns that our German partners have raised even a year ago. And today they are even worse than a year ago. Therefore, it is a national emergency, not to simply remove a government caught stealing elections, and then stealing Albanians, but to build a transformation process together, a big change, where obviously everyone should play a part, even honest socialists, the opposition which is naturally at the forefront of this endeavor, as well as civil society, intellectuals and free media,” Basha concluded.
