Fjori SinorukaTiranaBIRNMarch 15, 202316:22The official opposition Democratic Party has been blocked from running in the May local elections over a legal technicality – which can only help Prime Minister Edi Rama’s governing Socialists.
Sali Berisha and Lulzim Basha in 2014. Photo: EPA/ARMANDO BABANI
The temporary resignation of the former leader of the opposition Democratic Party Lulzim Basha in March last year has prevented the party from registering for the May local elections.
This is because some key documents submitted to the Central Elections Commission, CEC, should have had his signature.
One is the “Solemn Declaration” – a document that contains a commitment to refuse to participate in vote-buying, receiving illegal funds, especially those resulting from criminal activities, as well as a commitment to compete in elections honestly and with integrity.
Basha delegated his party responsibilities to Enkelejd Alibeaj, but this procedure did not go to the courts to be legalized. Therefore, the CEC has deemed the documentation incomplete. It asked the party to fix the documentation with a deadline in 48 hours last Friday.
Alibeaj, who is temporarily leading the party, on Tuesday claimed the CEC decision was “politically influenced”. The party has filed a complaint against the decision at the Commission of Complaints at Complaints and Sanctions Commission at the CEC. A decision will be given on Thursday.
The dispute has strengthened the hand of Alibeaj’s rival, Sali Berisha. The party is divided into two factions, one led by former leader Berisha – who also asked to be registered by the CEC to represent the DP in the local elections – a request that was denied – and the other group led by Alibeaj.
Berisha has not made his plans public for the local elections, but his candidates will likely run in a coalition with Ilir Meta’s Freedom Party.
A court ruling on March 6 failed to resolve who leads the biggest opposition party, and the case was sent for re-trial. Until a definite court ruling, the party will be lead by Alibeaj.
Afrim Krasniqi, who heads the Institute for Political Studies think tank, says all the groups involved are responsible for an “absurd” situation.
“The two groups in the DP had a year to resolve their disputes, including the completion of legal documentation, the court delayed its decision for months … and the CEC could long ago have completed the data of the political actors, including the two groups that claim to represent the DP,” Krasniqi told BIRN.
He added that while the technical procedure is important, it must not prevail over the essential issue: elections bring pluralism and representative democracy to life, and have value when there is competition and alternatives and when all parties have equal competition and campaign rights.
“The absurd situation, according to which a subject … is given electoral and annual funding, and the right to representation in the CEC and the privileges that come from being the main subject of opposition, etc., but does not have the right to participate in elections, shows both the incompetence of the electoral administration structures and the political party itself as well as the failure of the respective jurists and the predominance of political arguments over constitutional principles and norms,” he said.
Even after the crisis is resolved, the consequences will affect public trust in the process, parties, and the CEC, he warned.
Edlira Gjoni, a communications expert in Tirana, said the opposition’s chances aganst the governing Socialists are now even smaller: “With this step, the DP has become even more irrelevant and diminished in its importance in the eyes of law and voters.”
“I believe the decision of the Electoral Commission is based on legal grounds and the DP’s response to not respond is a luxury that this party can no longer afford,” Gjoni told BIRN.
“I see no real efforts from any sides within the DP to reconcile, to have a strategy or to make steps that put the voters and healthy democracy ahead of the personal interests of DP elite on all sides,” she added.
After the rival factions failed to reach an agreement between each other on who ran the party, a court ruling was the only way to put an end to the dispute.
Conflict in the party erupted last September when Basha, then the party leader, expelled former PM and former president Berisha from the party’s parliamentary group.
This came after the US declared him “persona non-grata” for alleged involvement in “significant corruption”, “misappropriation of public funds” and interference in “public processes”.
Berisha then held town hall meetings attacking Basha’s leadership. In December, he held a large-scale assembly at the Air Albania Stadium, which adopted a a new party statute.
Basha resigned last year after election defeats and delegated the party for one year to party parliamentary leader Alibeaj.
Alibeaj then appealed a court decision in March last year that recognized Berisha’s Assembly’s decisions.
In by-elections held earlier, Berisha’s “Freedom House” coalition did significantly better than the official party. Prime Minister Rama’s governing Socialists won five of the contested races, but the sixth, the important northern city of Shkodra, was won by Berisha’s candidate, Bardh Spahiu.
Source link: balkaninsight.com
