TIRANA, November 2 – After the meeting with the members of the chairmanship of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party (DP) headed by Enkelejd Alibeaj, the latter has once again confirmed the division of the DP regarding participation in the local power elections of May 14, which means they will compete separately. In a statement to the media on Wednesday, Alibeaj said that he continues to support the idea of a common winning candidate, but consensus should have been reached instead of conditions being imposed.
Alibeaj, a protege of former DP head Lulzim Basha and close collaborator of PM Edi Rama, hinted that the deputies lined up next to him cannot recognize Berisha as chairman.
Alibeaj said as quoted by local media that the organization for the May 14 elections was discussed and the discussions will be followed in another meeting on Friday. “Today’s meeting lasted three hours. It’s been a while since the DP chairmanship was convened due to commitments and discussions we had with the other party. It was an informational meeting. The chairmanship took a unanimous and supportive position, but we will now proceed with the organization of the local elections,” he said.
The negotiations between the two DP groups, that of Berisha and Alibeaj, to enter with a single candidate in the local elections failed.
Alibeaj’s group stated that the negotiations failed as the other side demanded that the December statute be recognized, while negotiatior of Berisha’s group Alfred Paloka said that it was not a condition to recognize Berisha as chairman. The latter even said that whoever touches the flag of DP has made the calculations wrong. /Argumentum.al
