Meta fails to join other leftists

TIRANA, June 22 – Leader of the Socialist Movement for Integration, Ilir Meta, convened Monday a roundtable with some leftist leaders, including former Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano, but not the current Socialist leader Edi Rama.
Meta met with Nano and also with Petro Koci of the True Socialist Party 91. Petro Koci appealing to all leftist political parties that they should join forces to protect their votes in the June 28 parliamentary elections.
The Socialists said a day earlier that such a call was a delayed one that would result in nothing.
Meta has been divided with from the Socialists since spring last year after the Socialists coordinated efforts and votes to pass constitutional amendments on a new electoral system and other issues.
At the time Meta said they intended to sideline the small political parties and also held a hunger strike together with a few other lawmakers of the small parties to protest against them. They failed.
But that did not fail to divide the leftist coalition which resulted in the creation of two separate coalitions running for the June 28 parliamentary elections.
Fatos Nano also has been at odds with his previous subordinates at the Socialist Party.
On Monday he called on them to say that, ‘leaders should understand their career cannot be built on divisions,’ he said referring to Rama.
The leftist parties were in the same situation four years ago, very much favoring the then-opposition democrats to gain some seats. The leftist divided their votes giving the opportunity to the Democrats at the time.
This time Meta and his coalition again claim they will be the decisive factor during the post-election time when the government is to be created and needing at least 71 votes in the 140-seat parliament.
But the voting this time is based on a new system, the regional proportional one, which will very likely leave small parties with very few seats.