Der Standart/ Election boycott in Albania: “This is a missionary struggle”

The head of the Democratic Party (DP) in Albania, Lulzim Basha, announced at a demonstration on Saturday in the capital Tirana to form a “new republic”. For the first time since the first free election in the former communist dictatorship in 1991, the conservative-oriented party does not participate in the polls.

STANDARD: Is there any way for your Democratic Party to take part in the election?
Basha: We always wanted to participate in elections, but not in those whose results have already been determined – by crimes and drugs.

STANDARD: You were offered four technical ministers. They could have chosen the police officers and the head of the electoral commission. Why did not this suit you?
Basha: A real technical government was not offered to us. Our idea is that there are only technical ministers, who mainly fight the influence of drug money on the elections and make a choice reform. We want the elections to be conducted electronically and electronically.

STANDARD: This would lead to a delay of the election which will take place on 18 June.
Basha: There are European companies that can do this within a few weeks. This can be organized by the end of October.

STANDARD: What are you really about?
Basha: The link between crime and politics is a special one in Albania. In Parliament, in mayors, in the administration of public institutions, people are sitting who have never been in politics at all. What unites them is that they have all been trapped in European prisons for drug trafficking, trafficking in women, prostitution, arms trafficking and murders. 95 per cent of those with a criminal background who sit in parliament, and 70 per cent of those who sit in the mayor’s offices are Catholics from the north of Albania.
STANDARD: What does this have to do with politics?
Basha : With the Catholics to the north was always our Hochburg. So Mr. Rama (Edi Rama, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Socialists, Note) has recruited the scum of scum in the north to break into our high fortress. They became powerful and appointed police officers and tax officers. In 2016, the entire country was turned into a cannabis plant.
STANDARD: What conditions do you now have to face in the elections as far as the technical government is concerned?
Basha: That the link between drugs and crime and the government is capped. Through the drugs, these criminals now have hundreds of millions of euros in their hands, much more than the police and the army. STANDARD: That is a good election campaign for the opposition. Why do not you want to participate in the elections? Basha: That’s not true, we want to participate.

STANDARD: But your party will not compete in the June 18 election.
Basha: Yes, because the Albanians are not allowed to choose freely because of the crime and the drug bosses. Teachers, soldiers, and policemen must participate in electoral events, and they must reveal private details.

STANDARD: So again, what are your terms?
Basha: We can negotiate. There is an electoral crisis, the international community has said.

STANDARD: Yes, that wants your party to take part in the elections. I have the impression that the international community is very unfortunate for pluralism and democracy in Albania if the DP does not take part.
Basha: It is important whether it will be a real choice.

STANDARD: So what are your conditions for forming a technical government?
Basha: It’s about the political parties finding a match. We have already done this in 1991 in Albania.

STANDARD: Yes, but what do you want?
Basha: A technical government is based on political agreement.

STANDARD: Yes, okay, but what are your demands?
Basha: Our offer was that a premier, which is acceptable to us, is appointed.

STANDARD: That will not happen. Rama will not resign before the election. Is there anything else you can live with beyond this maximum requirement?
Basha: Yes, we will mobilize people to recognize the truth.

STANDARD: In the current situation, is there a role that the corrupt prosecutors and judges should remove from the judiciary?
Basha: If there is a technical government, we return to Parliament, and then we will participate in the establishment of the investigation commissions.

STANDARD: Why not before?
Basha: Because Mr Rama broke the agreement of July 21, according to which we will make the seven changes of law in consensus. The legal changes are now unconstitutional. We wanted to make an appointment, for example, by which the examination commissions had to finish their work in one case. But now this will happen without any time limit. The three government representatives are also not to be part of the investigation, otherwise the Prime Minister performs the investigation.

STANDARD: When these changes are made, do you choose?
Basha: What does that have to do with it?

STANDARD: So this has nothing to do with it?
Basha: No. This is not important for the elections.

STANDARD: How can you prevent an escalation?
Basha: We are fighting for a free choice. This is no longer a political calculation, it is a missionary struggle.

STANDARD: But politics is not a mission. They were a very pragmatic politician. I remember when you became mayor of Tirana.
Basha: That was me as mayor. As an opposition leader, I must defend the freedom in my country, which is only 27 years old.

STANDARD: The EU and the US have no understanding for their position. How would you like to find support in Europe?
Basha: It’s important what they say, but most importantly, what the Albanians are saying. The Albanians do not eat in Washington, Brussels, Berlin or Vienna. They eat here.