In North Macedonia, amid ongoing divisions within the Alliance for Albanians (ASH), the extraordinary Congress, called by the faction of Ziadin Sela, dismissed Arben Taravari from the position of party chairman and elected Sela as its new chairman.
This Congress follows the decision of the Congress organized just days ago by Taravari’s faction, where the decision was made to remove the Central Assembly body of the Alliance for Albanians, led by Ziadin Sela. However, Sela’s faction’s Congress was called a week earlier, unlike Taravari’s, which was called a day before it was held, on Friday (February 16).
According to reports from Sela’s faction, 591 delegates out of the party’s total of 837 participated in Sunday’s Congress, and the decisions are fully empowered.
Sela told reporters, “The legal chairman of the party is the one who is there to be held accountable and not to shirk responsibilities”.
“The Central Assembly is the body where decisions are made and which decided to hold the extraordinary Congress. Therefore, we are here to respect what is written in the party’s statute, and the Congress decided by 591 votes to dismiss Taravari from the position of party chairman,” said Sela.
He added that he will lead the party with honesty, transparency, and dignity.
On the other hand, Taravari said a few days ago that he would not comment on the recent developments within the party but that the disagreements would be settled in court.
Divisions within ASH deepened as Arben Taravari, in his role as party chairman, decided to join the Albanian opposition for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections, while supporters of Sela planned for the party to run independently in these elections.
Sela’s faction continues to remain in the governing coalition; it has the support of at least six out of eight party lawmakers, and all three ministers are also from this faction.
Both sides consider each other’s decisions illegitimate, while most likely the courts will have to decide who will lead the Alliance for Albanians.
ASH was formed in 2015 by a group of politicians and activists led by Sela, dissatisfied with the policies of the Democratic Party of Albanians led by Menduh Thaçi. The faction later turned into a political party called the Democratic Movement in the Democratic Party of Albanians and was later renamed the Alliance for Albanians.
Sela led this party until he suffered a defeat in the last local elections (October 2021), for which he resigned, leaving the leadership of the party to Arben Taravari, who won the race for the mayor of Gostivar in those elections.
