On July 29, Lulzim Basha and Gjergj Hani will go head-to-head and seek the votes of Democrats, who will choose on the new leader of the opposition party.
But the voting date and the entire party process followed in June by one faction of the Democratic Party’s leadership is opposed by another faction led by Secretary General Gazment Bardhi.
Once again, as in the autumn of 2021, the clash between the two groups is hidden in details.
The pro-election leadership believes it has the power to make the necessary changes in the party’s structure, while Bardhi and his supporters emphasize that such decision-making is against the party’s statute.
On June 20, the National Council of the Democratic Party was convened, where the full quorum, of recently appointed branch leaders was opposed by Bardhi’s group.
The Secretary General, together with the group of deputies supporting him, objected to the meeting of the Council on June 20, emphasizing that there is another composition of this party organ recorded in court.
This opposition may be the cause of a new court clash between these two factions created in the past four weeks.
Bardhi’s group has announced that it will verify the members who participated in the meeting of the National Council on June 20, and then there may be another meeting of the National Council where the decisions made by both the leadership and the council could be overturned.
It now remains to be seen how this new clash in the Democratic Party will evolve, with its inception at the meeting of the National Council on June 6, where the two factions had different views on how the party should be organized.
In the race for the leadership of the Democratic Party, only Lulzim Basha and Gjergj Hani have submitted their candidacies as of now.
Meanwhile, the faction of Democrats led by Sali Berisha do not recognize any of the processes being held within this part of the Democratic Party.
Previously, Berisha stated that both Lulzim Basha who is seeking to return as leader of the DP and Enkelejd Alibeaj, who held the position of commanding leader of the DP until his resignation, are hostages of Prime Minister Edi Rama, with whom he has no intentions of dealing.
“The major problems in the Democratic Party were caused by the violation of the statute. I am sworn and determined to strictly enforce the statute, which gives power to the DP members. If a leader loses the local elections, and I consider it a loss because we didn’t win, the statute determines my vote of confidence from DP members… Of course, parallel to the democratic processes of the party, Edi Rama has created a process with his two hostages. I can only say this: there is no force that can free the hostage from its captor. I don’t deal with hostages; I will deal with the captor Edi Rama,” said Berisha during a press conference in early June.
Although the court officially does not recognize Sali Berisha as the leader of the Democratic Party, the former prime minister and historical leader of the Democrats is in charge of a faction called the Reestablishment Commission in the Democratic Party.
This faction emerged after the decision of then DP leader, Lulzim Basha to expel Berisha from the parliamentary group of the party, following his non grata designation by the United States Department of State in May 19, 2021.
Divisions and rifts have accompanied Democrats ever since, with a final solution for the biggest opposition party yet to be found.
