By Alfred Peza
There exists a known Serb myth in the Balkans to celebrate defeat as a victory. A myth connected to the triumphant commemoration which is made to the history of the big defeats that the Ottomans caused to the armies of the Balkan coalition led by the Serb Tsar Lazarus in the battle of Fushe-Kosove in the June of 1389. As if this was not enough, they have tried to turn the defeat in a moment of national pride, based on the simple fact that they want to “sell” the stage of fights in the heart of Kosovo as the cradle of Serbia. It was the commemoration of the 600th anniversary of this myth in Fushe-Kosove the moment that Slobodan Milosevic exploited to climb the ladder of power in a Yugoslavia which was getting ready to be destroyed and in order to prepare the implementation of the project for the creation of Greater Serbia. We all know that this adventure ended in a tragedy for the Balkan neighbors, in a drama for the Serbs and a big disgrace for the protagonists in the eyes of history. In an entirely different context, this sort of myth has been conceived for a while within the Democratic Party of Albania, which took a final shape in the recent hours with the process of the election for the new chairman of this party, following the catastrophic defeat that the DP conceded on June 25. The bigger the defeat in national elections, the bigger the victory has been for Lulzim Basha in the race for the head of this party. The more democrats boycotted the DP in the parliamentary elections, the bigger was their turnout in the party’s elections. The more Lulzim Basha is being considered the only person responsible for the defeat of the party, the more votes he received. The fewer seats in parliament the DP wins, the bigger the difference was between Basha and his rival in the race, Eduard Selami, as opposed to the race taken place four years ago with Sokol Olldashi. The harder it has become for democrats to seize power during his leadership, the more votes he has received from them to strengthen his power within the DP.
This way, what’s happening not only compromises and makes the race and his position within the party completely ridiculous, but Basha has also become some sort of Don Quixote. He has formed a myth, the fake myth of the undisputable party leader. A pointless myth which is being fed with indecent public shows and a machinery of lies, based on the mistaken mechanism of public relations. These and many other reasons are making Basha’s figure prone to attacks by all players of public life in the country. And this, without mentioning the attacks being made by the media, social networks and the growing number of political opponents within his party. Meanwhile, Astrit Patozi, the man who holds the battle flag against him in the DP, commented this situation by quoting the famous biblical phrase: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing!
In spite of this picture which is similar to the black paintings by Francisco Goya, which became even darker after Berisha’s declaration for the biggest defeat that he led in the 27 year old history of the Democratic Party, we must admit that Lulzim Basha has given himself a chance. A chance that he has been insisting so much during these four years as head of DP, for which he has worked more than he has worked to bring back the Democratic Party in power, because although he has led democrats to two election defeats, in contrast to us, the others, he has his reasons to consider them as victories. Personal victories which make him feel not only a party leader, but also the real chairman of the DP, by putting an end to the era of Sali Berisha and start his own era as leader of the DP.
If we look at it from this point of view, all of his foes and critics must be more tolerant and show more understanding for Lulzim Basha, by giving him another four years of time for his political project. But we must stress that nobody is obliged to understand and approve his decisions whether they are political, whether they relate to the way he acted in opposition during the last mandate or the fact that he left out several former ministers and other contributors in this party throughout the years. Let us consider for a moment that “the bigger the defeat of the DP, the bigger the victory for Lulzim Basha” is a fake myth. But let us consider this as an obligatory strategy to be followed by him, in circumstances that he was in after Sali Berisha’s resignation in 2013.
Beyond the debate concerning Lulzim Basha’s role in the June 25 elections and the 22 July elections within the party, the majority of his critics today, up until yesterday agreed that:
-The quality of representation of the DP in Parliament did not guarantee the best opposition possible, in front of a left wing majority of 84 MPs.
-Besides the old experienced figures of the DP, there were also many former ministers and former senior officials of this party, who had become an obstacle for a bigger moral approach of the opposition in front of the citizens, as a guarantee for a quick alternative of power in front of PM Rama.
-An important part of the heads of the leading structures of the DP and the local branches, had been atrophied and their efficiency did not offer guarantees for an imminent return of the right wing in the government.
-In the forums of this party, militancy has prevailed over meritocracy and as a result of the performance of political and electoral work on the ground was weakening as the years went by.
-The DP had long felt the need for a deep restructuring which would enable it to modernize its structures, by making it adjust its new team with an electoral competitive machine, which would be able to race in Albanian politics with another performance. Therefore, the questions that arise after this are: Do the new names that the DP led by Lulzim Basha included in the candidate lists for parliament offer guarantees that the new team would overcome the old one? Has the criteria of meritocracy been implemented during the process of the selection of the new political figures? Is there a clear strategy and an ambitious program for the victory of the DP and the return of the right wing in power? Does Lulzim Basha have what it takes to become Prime Minister of Albania tomorrow? Will he be able to inspire people in order to reach his destination?
However unbiased and empathizing one is, the answers that are given after this do not fill one with optimism about the fact that Lulzim Basha will generate hope. Neither today’s political history, nor the fake myth of the old losers of the Balkans can help him in this battle.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy
