Parties publish the list of their candidates with plenty of surprises

TIRANA, May 20—The two main Albanian parties made public the lists of the respective candidates. Both sides had made radical changes with plenty of new faces to compete for a parliament seat and many veterans were left out to heal their wounds. But the first of many surprises were not the lists themselves, but the fact that both parties handed their lists to Central Election Committee behind the set deadline on Tuesday at 24:00. Surely not a good omen for the upcoming and already very contested June 28th elections.
If being late was not enough, DP and SP risk to have their lists returned because none of them respected the gender quota of 30% females, a regulation aiming to promote women’s participation and gender quality in politics.
The most noticeable thing about the democratic list, presented by a smiling Berisha armed with plenty of calculations on vote numbers to be won in every single Albanian habitat, was the Topi effect. Conflicts between the current PM and the current President are an old thing in the Albanian political environment. Topi is also thought to be the main candidate to replace Berisha in the future. But as it is, Berisha made sure to clean the list of most of Topi’s supporters, at least, of the ones who have made their loyalty public. So far so good, current round goes to Berisha. Many Berisha loyalists, at least according to political analysts, lead the charge of the DP candidates. Lots of boat jumpers, too: a former spokeswoman for Ilir Meta, leader of SMI; a former member of Rama’s electorate staff in 2007; and the best of all, a former SP deputy, now wearing all blue. Perhaps, Berisha is finding a whole new meaning to the Trojan horse trick.
On the other side of the road, like Rama promised, the list of SP candidates carried lots of surprises. For starters, a new face will lead the list for Tirana candidates. Her name is Vasilika Hysi, director of Albanian Committee of Helsinki for almost ten years. It is interesting that the PD list also contained a female candidate with the same name, which shocked the public when the lists were revealed. Both parties were quick to explain that the respective candidates were two different people sharing the same name and nothing else in common. Meanwhile conspiracy theories are blooming.
Members of the SP board lead the lists in the remaining Albanian prefectures. What’s new is that next to the veterans there are many new names coming from the civil society of various professions. Of 140 candidates, 100 of them are professionals in the fields of economics, medicine, education, and law. 30% of the candidates hold at least one scientific title and half the candidates have completed post graduate studies.
The aim of SP is to win 72-75 seats in the parliament where 30% would be reconfirmed lawmakers and the remaining 70% will come as rookies from the civil society. Needless to say, we are looking at very reformed socialist legislation (or opposition) for the next 4 years. It seems Rama has stayed true to his promise of renewing the party as the first step to complete the vision of a new Albania. Perhaps, at the very least, Rama has completed a personal victory by reforming his party from the Nano-ist past
While many faces change, the leadership remains the same on both sides and more than a renovation of parties and visions, what the lists reflect, is a renovation of means to hold the power. And yet, Albania still hopes for pleasant surprises as it heads to elect, once again, a better future.