German Ambassador to Albania Peter Zingraf expressed his hope that the Democratic Party will elect its new leadership through a transparent race, based on principles, and not relying on any particular names, while refusing to comment on what he considered to be the party’s internal matters.
Asked about Germany’s stance on the designation of opposition MP Sali Berisha over corruption by the US State Department last year, Ambassador Zingraf told News24 TV on Friday that “it wouldn’t be correct for me to comment on such internal matters,” according to the interview published in Albanian.
Zingraf said he has followed the PD internal strife with regret and stressed the need for a strong opposition in Albania. He wished for the process of new leadership elections to be based on “transparency and rule of law”, in which “content and not individuals” are discussed, and which brings about “a leader that would be guided toward the future”.
The PD has been going through an internal strife since September 2021, when its former chair Lulzim Basha excluded his predecessor Sali Berisha from the parliamentary group under pressure by the US government following Berisha’s designation over corruption in May last year.
Berisha had denied allegations of corruption and sued US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken over slandering in a French court when Basha excluded him from the parliamentary group in breach of party statuses, prompting the PD founder to launch a movement to topple Basha.
After several months of touring the country to meet with PD members, while also taking advantage of their grief over Basha’s several consecutive losses against Prime Minister Edi Rama since 2013, Berisha arranged a meeting of the party’s highest decision-making body – the National Assembly – who voted to oust Basha and all PD leadership. They appointed a temporary Refoundation Committee to lead the party to new leadership elections. The assembly decisions were approved in a national vote by PD members.
Basha attempted to retort by claiming to have called another meeting of the national assembly, which had decided to oust Berisha supporters from the party. Their claim to have hosted over 5,000 PD members in a 2,000-seat venue was met with ridicule on social media.
Both groups insisted on not recognizing each-other’s legitimacy.
However, following a crushing loss in byelections both to Berisha and Rama, and the worst result in the party’s history, Basha said he was resigning from leadership, prompting the Refoundation Committee to clarify that his resignation was void as Basha was already dismissed.
In what appears to be a breach of party statuses, the already dismissed PD General Secretary Gazmend Bardhi announced to have appointed deputy chair Enkelejd Alibeaj to lead the party.
Alibeaj has now taken up the fight to prohibit Berisha from being elected as PD leader due to his designation by the US State Department, while the Refoundation Committee recognizes Alibeaj only as the party’s chief whip in parliament, but neither as acting chair nor as deputy chair.
The committee has set April 30 for another national assembly to set the way for new leadership elections.
Read more: US Ambassador Appears to Meddle in Albanian Opposition’s Power Struggle
