War of egos in Albania

Less than a month away from by-elections in Albania, the main opposition party and the second largest political force in the country is facing the biggest crisis in its history. A dispute between its former leader until 2013 and the current party leader, initiated by pressure from the United States.

In recent weeks, Tirana has been the scene of an internal war in the country's main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Albania (Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë in Albanian). Demonstrators in favour of one of the party's leading figures and former Albanian prime minister, Sali Berisha, took to the streets surrounding the party's headquarters. In response, police forces resorted to tear gas and water cannon to disperse the week-long protests, which resulted in dozens of prisoners and two injuries.

Since then, statements by both leaders have taken over the country's political discourse, forcing even Albania's president, Ilir Meta, to speak out. "We are facing a crisis of legitimacy, which they themselves have accepted", explained the head of state when asked by journalists, and declared that Lulzim Basha, the former leader of the formation, had lost not only the support of those who gave him that position, but that they also "question his legitimacy".

This kind of civil war in the main opposition party dates back to last year, when Berisha and his family were sanctioned by the US State Department for "engaging in significant corruption" and banned from entering the US. It was then that Lulzim Basha, leader of the Democratic Party, expelled Berisha from the parliamentary group of which he was still a member. Since then, Berisha has been forced to give up his seat in the country's parliament.

Basha told the National Assembly in December that "we are moving towards a Democratic Party that has rid itself of its past, as well as the crime and corruption in our midst", referring to the expulsion of what had been a key part of his own party up to that point.

For his part, the former Albanian prime minister between 2005 and 2013 insists that there is "zero evidence" behind the corruption accusations that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken levelled against him. Moreover, in an interview for The Washington Times he stated that his lawyers are preparing a defamation lawsuit against Blinken, and openly challenged the Biden Administration to show proof of the claims against him. Not only that, the centre-right leader of post-communist Albania advised US officials to focus on his political rivals, including the current Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama.

Following Berisha's resignation from the Democratic Party leadership in 2013, Lulzim Basha, mayor of Tirana between 2011 and 2015, was elected party president. After which he announced the "toughest reform within the party" and has been the standard-bearer in the fight against central government corruption, which led his allies not to register to participate in the 2017 general elections until the government accepted his conditions to "ensure a free and democratic election".

"Sali Berisha lied to us and wanted to make fools of us all with his ridiculous lies and fabrications about why the US declared him a persona non-grata," Basha said in December as he kicked the former prime minister out of the parliamentary group. Berisha responded by vowing to regain the party's leadership by ousting its current leader.

On Sunday morning Tirana woke up sunny and calm. Without the typical traffic that clogs the Albanian capital. On Drëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard, only tourists and young people could be seen. In the background, the Albanian Parliament, and only fifty metres away, the headquarters of the Democratic Party. It seems incredible that just over a week ago this same street was surrounded by the fumes of tear gas and water cannons that the police did not hesitate to throw at those protesters who tried to take over the party headquarters in the name of Sali Berisha.

"On January 8, the democrats demanded nothing more than to evict the bandits," recited a statement released by Berisha from the Albanian municipality of Shkoder, regarding these incidents. "Our protests will not stop until our victory. Those who support Edi Rama and Lul Basha will fail, the future belongs to the men and women who fight for human dignity. From today I invite you to be the flame and the light of this revolution". With these words, the now biggest opponent of the same opposition invited Albanians to join his "revolution".

The consequences of this "revolution" were not long in coming, and the democratic leader expelled not only Berisha but also eight other members from the formation.

However, the former US persona non-grata is still determined to remain on the Albanian political scene. That is why a few days ago he announced his six candidates for mayor in the 6 March local by-elections, while confirming that he will be running in coalition with the Socialist Movement for Integration (Lëvizja Socialiste për Integrim, LSI, in Albanian) in these elections.

In the same context, the ruling Socialist Party has also announced its mayoral candidates in the municipalities entering the election round: Shkoder, Dibër, Vora, Rrogozhina, Durrës and Lushnje. It is Basha with the Democratic Party that is the only one of Albania's major parties that has not yet presented its candidates.

And as for the war between the two centre-right parties, Berisha stressed that their political action will now be based on two types of meetings; the first to organise mass protests, while the second will be roundtables to get citizens' opinions.

Now, with the municipal by-elections just around the corner and Berisha's tour of the country already underway, the battle between the two moves to the streets. Among the results of these elections, it is the results from the coastal town of Durrës that will decide which of the two democrats has the most support. Durrës is the largest of the municipalities that will vote for their mayor on March 6, with around 110,000 voters. Moreover, the Democratic Party has never won any elections in this northwestern Albanian town.