Analyst Aleksander Çipa said to journalist Ilva Tare during Euronews Albania’s Ilva Now that after the declaration non-grata for former PM Sali Berisha, DP held a unanimous stance supporting him and this is a testament of the fact that none of the candidates entering the race for the new Chair of DP are showing the necessary leadership.

According to Cipa, the fact that none of the candidates are holding a stance regarding this matter speaks to the fact that Berisha’s shadow is a force, no one can go against without facing certain defeat.

“All electoral rapports in Albania have experienced problems because they have been based on the concept of family ties and the leader. There are two crucially important details in Berisha’s statement: I will double my mandate, which means an increase of the influence within the political kin and the second, Basha refused the invitation to ‘Defender 21’ which shows a kind of opportunity.

These attest to the fact that Berisha’s shadow is a force, his influence has maximalized during this electoral process. We have to be honest, politically Berisha responded to the U.S Department of State and the fact that he says that he will double his mandate means he has negated what we have pretended to be his political retirement. A candidate that would fight to separate from this would immediately lose; no candidate speaks on this. None of them are showing the force of leadership,” stated Cipa.

According to Cipa, even though the race is open for a new leader for the DP, there is still a positive value because it shows that we have a new approach in DP’s leadership.

“It is certain that Basha holds the advantage because he is still in power, he is the administrator of the electoral process,” said Cipa.