TIRANA, June 29 – Petrit Vasili announced Thursday he was resigning as leader of the Socialist Movement from Integration after the party did not meet its own expectations in the June.
“My resignation comes to help the party organize itself in opposition,” Vasili said in a press conference.
The leadership of the party will go to Vasili’s deputy, Monika Kryemadhi, until SMI can hold internal elections.
Vasili had been leader for only little more than a month after the party’s founder, Ilir Meta, resigned from the helm to become the country’s new president.
Kryemadhi is Meta’s wife, but she is also an experienced politician and lawmaker on her own and could lead the party long term, analysts say.
The Socialist Movement for Integration came in third with 19 seats, moving to the ranks of the opposition after eight years in power in successive DP- and SP-led governments in which SMI served as kingmaker. It had sought to become the top party.
