TIRANA, March 29 – U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu and Head of EU Delegation to Tirana Romana Vlahutin met Wednesday with the chairman of the leftist LIBRA party, Ben Blushi, who explained the party’s platform to the international representatives.
The meeting lasted about 90 minutes and was held at the LIBRA headquarters in Tirana. The party chairman, a renowned critic of Prime Minister Edi Rama, said that LIBRA is determined to participate in the upcoming parliamentary elections and is not in favor of postponing elections.
“We are determined to contribute for the improvement of the electoral standards and ready to vote the vetting process,” the LIBRA chairman said.
LIBRA is a former Socialist Party splinter group, led by two current MPs, promising justice for the poor and marginalized groups in society. It accuses the prime minister of being in bed with the oligarchs and of hampering democracy.
Interlocutors talked about the need of a higher presence of international monitors in the electoral process, paying particular focus in the behavior of State Police, vote counting and transparency of campaign expenses.
In terms of the election of the president, LIBRA will ask for a president that is not nominated by the ruling majority.
LIBRA has repeatedly called on political parties to overcome the political crisis and unblock the vetting process, considered crucial to Albania’s integration to European Union.
