The opposition Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI) has named fight against “oligarchs” as one of its main political objectives.
Head of LSI Monika Kryemadhi emphasized her party’s approach by calling for a boycott of those businesses that operate under government favoritism in her speech on the 15th anniversary of LSI’s inception.
“Don’t buy food at their malls, don’t buy clothing at their signature shops, don’t use big company taxis, but choose neighborhood stores, your neighbors and drivers who work to provide food for their families,” Kryemadhi said.
The LSI was created on 6 September 2004 when a group of Socialist Party members led by Ilir Meta, today’s President of Albania, left the party.
Opposition parties have been denouncing for several years what they consider an oligarchic regime led by Prime Minister Edi Rama, in which a handful of big businesses close to the government exploit resources and reap the benefits of the Albanian economy. Government contracts are also deemed to be regularly awarded to a few government favorite companies, particularly through private-public partnerships and unsolicited proposals for concession contracts.
In her speech, Kryemadhi drew a clear line between her left-aligned party and the ruling leftist Socialist Party (PS). She said the PS, often called “Rilindja” (the Renaissance) by its leader Edi Rama, is left with no ideology under his leadership and has betrayed the left.
“The Rilindja no longer has any meeting point with any ideology, especially with the left. Rama’s Rilindja will be remembered as the biggest traitor of the Albanian left,” Kryemadhi stated while emphasizing Rama’s connection with the oligarchs.
Kryemadhi stated that the LSI mission under her leadership is to have Albania integrated into the EU, whilst putting the left back on its tracks. According to her, Albanian socialists have found themselves under Edi Rama’s leadership of a Socialist Party fueled by deep corruption through public–private partnerships, drugs, and crime, and they are disappointed.
Speaking in regards to the opposition’s boycott of parliament, she clarified it was done under an impossible parliamentary life based on democratic principles and values, and was due to the “criminal oligarchic regime of Edi Rama.” Kryemadhi added that the boycott has increased the opposition’s responsibility to find better mechanisms to represent citizens.
In her speech on party’s 15th anniversary, Kryemadhi outlined her party’s main priorities: fight against oligarchy, as well as filling the vacuum on the left of the Albanian political spectrum, which is increasing as the gap between rich and poor in the country keeps widening under the socialist government of Edi Rama.
