Democratic Party of Albania missed the chance, if it ever had one, to become truly democratic, when it selection Sali Berisha, the current Prime Minister, as its chairman. Berisha, who after being admitted to membership in the Albanian Communist Party in 1971, rose quickly through the party ranks and became a “trusted” agent of the communist party, who would later serve as the personal medical doctor of the ill-famed dictator Ramiz Alia, whom he replaced in 1991.
“The selection of Sali Berisha, as the leader of the Democratic Party, is a step backwards in the country's transition from communism to political democracy,” said a delegate, who asked to remain anonymous because he fears retribution. “No one voted,” he said, “We just walked in and out as a formality. Berisha was selected, not elected. And it is shame because we had an opportunity to change the image of our party by electing a leader instead of selecting one. This makes Berisha the only communist in Eastern Europe to be both the PM and Party Chairman” he continued.
No primary elections were held within the Democratic Party and Berisha was the only candidate. In a carefully staged Party Congress held in Tirana in December 2009, Berisha received 1,208 votes out of the total of 1,213 delegates, which translates to 99.6% of the vote Only five votes were casted against him. (AP, December 12, 2009, www.etaiwannews.com)
Now he can claim that not neither Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran, nor Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, nor his predecessors, Enver Hoxha and Ramiz Alia, ever received such a high percentage of votes in an intra-party “election” , commented Zeri i Poppullit, an opposition newspaper.
A controversial figure, Berisha was at a time fêted as the country's first non-communist president, as a reformer who would liberalized the economy and reform Albania's institutions. But soon, he was accused of authoritarianism, of electoral irregularities, and of instigating violence in an attempt to maintain his party's grip on power. www.esiweb.org
In 1997, Berisha was involved in a series of scandals which led to his electoral defeat. In 1998, Berisha was accused of attempting a coup, following the assassination of the DP politician Azem Hadjari and resultant protests by his supporters. The Socialist controlled parliament voted to lift his immunity in preparation for his arrest and prosecution. Attempting to restore calm to a country in turmoil, the international community advised against Berisha's arrest. www.esiweb.org
In 2005, Berisha expelled from the Democratic Party of Albania the MPs whom he disagreed with, purging the party of any opposition. And since his re-election in 2005, he has been accused of being involved in illegal arms dealings, corruption, usurping the freedom of the press, controlling the judiciary and threatening to fire the Attorney General who was investigating allegations against him and his Ministers concerning the Gerdece Arm Depot explosions and the mysterious death of the key witness to the alleged arms dealings, Kosta Trebecka.
Further, in 2008, Berisha passed a new Election Code, prompting Claude Moniquest, President of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center (ESISC), www.esisc.com, to note that “ The adoption of new election code [in Albania] compromises possibilities for free election by excluding small political parties from the process... and assuring themselves control.... over Albania.“
During the 2009 electoral campaign, Berisha was accused of using his secret police, known as Shish, to arrest, intimidate, and even kill his opponents, giving the election campaign, in the words of International Institute for Middle-East and Balkan Studies (IFIMES) “the taste of blood” www.worldsecuritynetwork.com. Only days before the election of June 28, Aleksander Keka, Chairman of the Christian Democratic Party of Malesi e Madhe, and Fatmir Xhindi, a socialist MP, were assassinated. Their killers have yet to be identified or arrested, causing Berisha’s opponents to accuse him of having something to do with these political murders. Both Keka and Xhindi were in Berisha’s opposition.
Comments
@ Paul Simoni.
Yes, I agree to all those.
I do not agree though that Berisha takes orders from Ramiz.
I think that there HAS been an agreement between Alia and Berishovich which placed the latter to head the DPA. There also should be another agreement between them which impedes Alia do divulge any information related to the first hours of the change of Regime that took place in Albania, and the developments related to the shift of power, people, and political circulation. Berishovich, i believe has been commended by Alia to usurp the power of the would-be "right" spectrum of the politics in Albania. The agreement guarantees the safety and welfare of Alia in return for his silence.
For the rest, i don't really know what else he could do more wrong than he already has.
Also, please read my previous comment here. There's no point of repeating them forever.
@Zotrules,
I like you honesty. I agree with you that there was an agreement between Berisha and Alia and each has to live up to his promise. Listen, I read your previous comments and some of them irritated me because the communist regime did indeed persecute my family severely. I am just curious to know, why do you refer to Berisha as Berishovic?
You just have to understand one thing Paul. I hate laments. Lumaj wrote an article on how Albanians in the States celebrated 28Nov.How and most importantly -WHY- he comes up in the same article with appalling figures like 20% Cathies in Albania, is just irritating to say the least. To mention 2 Cathies and only ONE Muslim at the main event, is just purposefully, intentionally derogatory and demeaning for Albania and Albanians. That, i do not believe was an accident. Lumaj knows what he wants and he aims for it all the ways he can; even by insulting the rest of the Albanian nation. To mention Hoxha as an Islamic Fundamentalist and Dictator, is just madness and lunacy to say the least. But Lumaj does it on purpose. What that purpose is, Lumaj knows first hand. I could take a guess here, not very wild and not such long a shot... that whole idea comes out of Belgrade. And this is very VERY serious. It is therefore of imperative importance to reveal the deliberate misinformation of Lumaj.
continues...
nobody can deny the persecution of the "commie" regime in Albania. That is a given fact. But never have the Catholics suffered because they were Catholics. The whole of the Albanian clergy, Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic was whether imprisoned, labour-camped, or executed. All of them. That entire families were destroyed in that regime, is also an undeniable fact. Everyone has his own stories and records. That your family fled Albania to Italy in 1967, that's just not true. I do not believe it for a second. I've exerted too much energy in explaining why.
To claim that Catholics are being discriminated upon in Albania, is just BULLSHIT.
Even the fact that you had to argue with me here, you considered it a "muslim vs catholic" debacle. It simply is NOT. I'm a Christian myself and I don't persecute or discriminate against anybody of any other religions. This has been a painful symphony of self-victimisation, self-pity and witch-hunt orchestra.
ti koke pis mashkull po shko ne serbi e kandido se atje nuk te ban pun
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