TIRANA, Jan.26 – The first meeting of the Socialist Party parliamentary group for the year was accompanied by internal debates on the lack of elections within the party and also regarding the performance and accountability of the government. Socialist MP Ben Blushi, one of the most critical voices within the party, reiterated the necessity for elections in the Socialist Party saying that the current chairman Edi Rama is ruling in violation of the party statute.
According to Blushi, the Socialist Party is in a dire moment as the economy is performing poorly, unemployment has gone up, the ruling coalition is not too stable and the justice reform is not on the right track yet, therefore the party should be given a chance to elect the chairman. “The SP chairman is perhaps the only in the world who has a seven-year mandate and is heading for an eternal one.
Even the Party of Labour (Communist Party) had limited terms, Enver (Hoxha) was elected every four years. It was formal obviously, but he was elected,” Blushi declared. In an interview for Top Channel, Blushi said that he will present his own political platform in the congress of the Socialist Party and afterwards local media have speculated that Blushi might even run for the Socialist Party chair. When asked if he was going to run for the SP chair, Blushi stated that the question is whether there are going to be elections within the party or not in the first place adding that once the party decides to hold elections he will make public his decision.
As the Socialist group met, a number of SP members gathered in front of the SP headquarters in Tirana to demand elections within the party. The protesters considered the current chairman Rama as ruling without a mandate since the party hasn’t kept elections in the last three years. SP chairman and Prime Minister Edi Rama has faced accusations for not holding party elections in the past, but he has justified himself with the fact that since he has been elected as a Prime Minister, he automatically becomes party chairman as well.
Rama himself was not present in the meeting of the Socialist Party parliamentary group. Another Socialist MP Arta Dade voiced her criticism regarding the current state of affairs in the Socialist Party. Dade demanded accountability from Socialist ministers by declaring that ministers are obliged to give explanations to their parliamentary group in the face of growing opposition accusations on public tenders.
Meanwhile, the socialists finally have a date for their congress after a series of postponements. Socialist Party MP Taulant Balla, who broke the news to the media, said that the Socialist Party congress will be held on March 19 and that delays of the congress were due to an influx of new memberships.
