Albania\u2019s Democratic Party holds its leadership election this Saturday, with polling stations opened at 8:00 AM and closing at 7:00 PM. A call to vote has been sent to 25,000 party members.<\/p>\n
The contenders in the race are former party chairman, Lulzim Basha, and his opponent Gjergj Hani, a former political dissident.<\/p>\n
After casting his vote, Lulzim Basha spoke to reporters, emphasizing that today marks the start of the Democratic Party\u2019s rejuvenation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis day holds special significance due to its unique circumstances. We have faced unprecedented challenges. The thousands of Democrats heading to the ballot boxes today have endured relentless and unwarranted attacks. However, their endurance is not driven by personal interests, but by the causes and values that unite this political family and the Albanian people,\u201d said Basha.<\/p>\n
His opponent, Gjergj Hani, encouraged all Democrats to actively participate in the elections.<\/p>\n
The Democratic Party enters this election in a state of division, with its members split into three factions.<\/p>\n
The number of members expected to cast their ballots on Saturday has significantly decreased to 25,000, which is merely a third of the party\u2019s membership in the last elections held in 2021, when there were around 75,000 registered members.<\/p>\n
Before this process, the DP was already divided between supporters of Lulzim Basha and those of Sali Berisha.<\/p>\n
However, the ongoing election has deepened these divisions even further.<\/p>\n
The leadership elections in the DP have faced opposition from another faction, led by Secretary General Gazmend Bardhi, along with seven deputies who support him.<\/p>\n
A day earlier, a group of deputies brought this matter to court, submitting the National Council\u2019s decision to nullify the elections, suspend the party presidency, and request the deregistration of Lulzim Basha, who continues to be the party chairman, from the registry of political parties.<\/p>\n
The current situation within the DP remains uncertain and unstable, following the events of March 21, 2022, when Lulzim Basha tendered his resignation as the party chairman, and his position was taken over by Enkelejd Alibeaj.<\/p>\n
On March 25, 2022, the First Instance Court in Tirana recognized the legality of the National Assembly called by Sali Berisha and all the decisions taken during that period.<\/p>\n
This decision was appealed by Enkelejd Alibeaj, who has been serving as the acting leader of the Democratic Party.<\/p>\n
The Court of Appeals subsequently decided to review the case in the first instance court.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of the significant defeat of the Democratic Party in the local elections on May 14, the acting chairman, Enkelejd Alibeaj, also stepped down.<\/p>\n
Currently, the official DP office is being rented, as the headquarters was forcibly taken over by Berisha.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Albania\u2019s Democratic Party holds its leadership election this Saturday, with polling stations opened at 8:00 AM and closing at 7:00 PM. A call to vote has been sent to 25,000 party members. The contenders in the race are former party chairman, Lulzim Basha, and his opponent Gjergj Hani, a former political dissident. After casting his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":58008,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[545,361,305,348,243,151,306,570,347],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n