The “highlanders’” dialogue and the clash for the June 18 elections

The “highlanders’” dialogue and the clash for the June 18 elections
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By Eduard Zaloshnja

Yesterday Berisha threatened from the “Freedom Tent” that if elections are held without the DP, the latter will force opponents to leave Albania dressed like women, like Gramoz Ruci did in 1996.

From Parliament, Gramoz Ruci gave an indirect response to Berisha, addressing to the Speaker of Parliament: “Mr. Speaker, it’s been four years that you lead this parliament and you have granted a lot of speaking time to Berisha, three times more than the Prime Minister.

There are limits here, Mr. Speaker. 1 million people who have voted us to govern this country, continue to see how the only thing that the opposition and its tent care about is the vetting process and justice system.

I have only one answer for him: Dialogue has ended! We, socialists, have made our calculations. We do have 71 votes, even without SMI (to vote the President of Republic), but I hope that you will not force us to step upon the morale of this political force”.

In other words, Ruci told Berisha that the SP will continue its journey, regardless of what he says from the “Freedom Tent” and regardless of what SMI’s position will be from now on.

A clash of “highlanders” in distance! One from Kurvelesh and the other one from the Highland of Djakovica.

At the same time, Ruci’s speech also served as a warning for Meta, who has labeled himself as a “highlander” from Skrapar during a speech held in Çorovoda two years ago, while he sent a message in distance to Dr. Berisha. Ruci’s warning was related to Meta’s ambition to become President of Republic. (The latter seemed to want to be elected president with the DP’s consensus after the parliamentary elections.)

As a result of these developments, the SMI convened its leadership and proposed Petrit Vasili and Ilir Meta as candidates for President of Republic. Meanwhile, the SP also gathered its leadership and accepted Ilir Meta’s nomination for the post of the President of Republic. In other words, it seems that the election of the president in today’s parliamentary session is a mere formality.

With the president’s election, there are no more dilemmas as to whether SMI will participate in the elections or not without the participation of the DP.  The SMI will be part of these elections, even if DP doesn’t participate in them.

With the path that SMI has chosen, the legitimacy of the elections would be secured if the majority reconfirms 1 million votes and if the international community considers the elections as “acceptable for the current circumstances”.  In fact, during an interview for the Voice of America, the US ambassador to Tirana has issued a signal about this. He declared: “Elections may be considered legitimate even without the opposition’s participation. But, let us be clear on one thing: we must all agree that these elections would be better with the opposition participating in them. We are working everyday to achieve this.”

Now, the ball is on Berisha’s court. His delegated administrator of the DP, Lulzim Basha, made this diversion in the evening from the “Freedom Tent”: “Today (yesterday) is a sad day for Edi Rama, because he was obliged to announce his rival as president. Today, he has signed his act of desperation. This is the last bargain that holds this alliance on its feet. The new president is holding to ransom the old republic”. The fact that Basha used this diversion against the difficult alliance between Rama and Meta, shows Berisha’s desperation about Meta’s decision to give on being a mediator between the tent and the Prime Minister.

Basha also reiterated the usual phrase: “The vetting process will take place after the creation of the caretaker government and free elections will be held without Rama as Prime Minister. But, it remains to be seen how his boss, Berisha, will react after these shocking movements made by the two “highlanders”, Ruci and Meta.

It seems that from now on, it will be the “highlanders” that will decide and not the “city boys”...

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