Thursday, Sali Berisha spoke for the first time since the inner debate has stifled the largest opposition party at the end of May. A plethora of problems, from the Rama–Basha agreement, the debate over the deputy list of the PD, Basha’s campaign, the deep defeat and re-nomination and controversy, Berisha has tried to keep a profile that many expected, but also left many in shock: Berisha spoke openly! He had a target: the militants and supporters of the PD. Surely, he has left many, who hope to include him in a inner debate of PD, in a state of shock.
Berisha’s interview, and the viewpoint of protagonists and analysts, can be interpreted in various ways, but more or less, according to me, it can be summarized in two points:
First, Berisha spoke with the authority of the historically most important person of the Democratic Party (PD). One of its founders, leader for 21 years, the person who kept the party in power for 13 years and an important Albanian government official. He was obviously distant from the barren debates, while seeming to be involved with them.
Second, Berisha reconfirmed, once again, this time adamantly, the fact that his political ambitions in the PD won’t go beyond his dedication as a party member, and that he won’t be a protagonist in the race.
Third, Berisha tried to distance himself from Basha’s decision making yesterday, and even tomorrow, strengthening what he had previously stated, and firmly restated: Basha is the one who decides what happens in PD, he has his thoughts that don’t always match with the ones of the Leader. He tried to confirm that any connection between Basha’ decisions and Berisha is false and unreal.
Fourth, Berisha reconfirmed Basha’s mistakes, which Basha himself had admitted to in a press conference, he calmed the opponents inside the PD, giving them a moral right, and declared that their place and investments lies with the Democratic Party. He tried to halt a rather minor but possible fracture within the party. He declared that it is time to reunite and not to break up.
Fifth point. With his standpoint Berisha didn’t open, but closed the debate within the PD. Everyone can hold to his viewpoint, but the one of Berisha is clear: he won’t be on anyone’s side, and won’t support disputes and fractures within the party.
One of the most famous characters of the former communist East, one of the politicians with highest longevity in the Balkans, Berisha has decided to keep an attitude of a politician who has dropped his political ambitions by now, but who doesn’t leave for a second the building he himself erected 27 years ago.
