Can DP come back to power just by slamming the current government?

Can DP come back to power just by slamming the current government?
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By  EDUARD ZALOSHNJA

The daily activity in which the Democratic Party  is engaged shows that its strategy to come back to power relies on the endless criticism against the government, with the hope that eventually, the majority will shrink to a critical point where its votes fall below the votes of the opposition. But they forget that the opposition’s votes are at an all time low. So, when the DP came into power (in 1992), right wing parties (led by DP) obtained over 1 million votes. In 1997, this party went down to a dramatic 450 thousand votes (during this time, the DP did not dare to hold electoral meetings in the south of Shkumbin River). In 2009, this party won 750 thousand votes, while in 2017, they fell back to 450 thousand votes (see the graph attached).

When democrat politicians are faced with these electoral figures, they claim that in 1997, their political opponents took their votes by the force of Kalashnikovs, while in 2017, by the force of cannabis. But, they forget to mention the fact that in 2017, right wing parties lost 120 thousand votes in urban areas and this was mainly due to the fall of turnout in the elections. We can accept the Democratic Party’s justification on rural areas (where one can buy the head of the family in order to secure the votes of the entire family), but it’s hard to believe that 120 thousand urban right wing voters chose to stay at home on election day, thanks to the money generated from cannabis (in 11 boroughs of Tirana, right wing parties shrank by 50 thousand votes).

In order for these urban right wing voters to come back to the ballot boxes, slamming the left wing government about cannabis and concessions on a daily basis, is not enough. The Democratic Party must criticize and denounce, by mentioning names of all of those who allowed cannabis in Lazarat and Dukagjin for 8 years in a row  and those who signed abusive concessionary deals. These denouncements must reach as far as former ministers and the former Prime Minister (or their relatives).

So, at the moment, there are 209 concessionary contracts. 135 of them hold the signatures of the Democratic Party ministers, 52 of them hold the signatures of the Socialist Movement for Integration ministers and only 22 of them hold the signatures of the Socialist Party ministers. Thanks to these signatures, in 2018, Albanians will pay to concessionary companies 150 million euros (70 million of them will be paid indirectly through the state budget).

During the DP’s eight years in power, thousands of tenders have been granted. For the majority of them, the High State Audit has reported violations and these violations have had a cost of several hundred millions of euros for Albanian taxpayers (the most famous one was the 220 million cost excess declared for the construction of the Nation’s Road).

Once the DP files charges against these corrupt people who caused so much financial damage to Albania during its eight years in power, then this party could hope that 750 thousand voters, the same number that voted in 2019 (1 million votes that it obtained in 1992, could never be dreamed of), will vote for this party.

But, if it doesn’t choose this honest path, could the current strategy of the DP be successful?

The DP and its small satellites could go as high as 500 thousand votes, hoping that SMI will be able to attract as many votes and together, they could overcome the SP and its small satellites. Otherwise, the DP can desperately wait and hope for other materials to come from prosecutors across the sea, materials which must directly incriminate Edi Rama.

Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy

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