Editor’s note
It seems as if Albania is at the climax of the electoral campaign with all its main political actors claiming victory on April 25 in the parliamentary elections. Although it’s not officially launched the rhetoric has reached high tones cloaked with promises but also curses against each other.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha in an interview with News24 TV stated on Thursday that he does not think about the loss of the chairman of the Democratic Part (DP), Lulzim Basha, because, according to him, it would be like finding an Eskimo in the desert.
“In fact, I am a man who swore that if I clearly lost the election, I would leave. But this time, to be honest, to imagine the loss of Mr. Basha, is to find an Eskimo in the desert. It is impossible. Victory is so certain that it is not worth commenting on. Not to use an example twice is like looking for the circle in the square. It can never happen! Edi Rama has problems and must be prepared. The DP is a national party, Edi Rama is an anti-national figure. There can be no coalition with him,” said Berisha.
There has been hearsay on an eventual post electoral coalition between Rama and Basha with the alleged aim of liquidation of SMI from the Albanian political scene.
A SP-DP co-governing was denied also by President Ilir Meta on Thursday.
For his part DP Head Basha listed on Instagram another failure of Prime Minister Rama on Thursday. He put the question how Rama managed the pandemic answering with “BAD”.
“43 days until April 25. 100 failures of Rama in 8 years. How did Edi Rama manage the pandemic? Answer: Bad! These data refute the propaganda of Edi Rama and prove the mismanagement of the pandemic,” said Basha.
Most Albanians believe that the Socialist Party will emerge first in the April 25 general elections, however the gap between it and the Democratic Party has narrowed significantly.
This was the result of the third national election poll of the company MRB for Euronews Albania made public on Thursday. Asked about the confidence of who will win the elections regardless of how they will vote, the citizens answered:
SP – 49.3%, DP – 33.5%, SMI – 5.5% and other tiny parties- 0.2%.
Against the backdrop of this prediction, Prime Minister Edi Rama stated in a TV talk show on Thursday that the Socialist Party aims to secure the result of 2017 in the elections of April 25, while emphasizing that it will win. Rama said that SP has clear strategies for this race, while affirming that for now the result is 0-0.
“We will win the elections and confirm a minimum of 74 seats. Minimum. We have had free elections and we will continue to have them. Did Luli win the elections in 2017?!” he asked. /argumentum. al