Addressing a meeting of the DP parliamentary group, Berisha sounded confident that his party would win the May 11 general elections.

“Albanians are increasingly convinced that DP will win May 11 elections. This is a huge responsibility, but I would like to reassure them that the first 100 days of our government will mark total transformation of Albania,” Berisha told opposition lawmakers.

“We should waste no time, but instead prepare all the decisions for the first 100 days during these months ahead of the election campaign, so that we can sign them into government decisions and actions to make our transformative program a reality,” Berisha stated.

He vowed that a series of decisions will be made to eradicate Soros impact on the Albanian society, should his DP takes office after the parliamentary elections. Berisha claimed that Albania has become “the experimental garden of George Soros.”

“I urged Alex Soros to close foundation in Albania, because, I promise, it will be closed by law on the first week after the May 11 elections so that he never sets a foot in Albania again. This foundation has done great harm to Albania as a supporter of the far-left parties and woke culture in the country to destroy family and gender identity. It is therefore our obligation as a political party to draft all the legislation that would put an end to Soros influence in Albania,” Berisha said.

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He said that the opposition will propose broadening the law to include overdue utility bills for vulnerable groups and forgiving minor administrative violations.

Berisha criticized the government for misusing the power and administrative resources for electoral purposes, including recent adoption of the law on tax procedures, which he considered “a bluff” since it has been overthrown by the Constitutional Court.

According to the opposition leader, the fines levied under this law were unlawful and the government should refund those who have already paid these fines.

He pledged that a DP government will approve a legal framework on electricity prices according to the wages and pension rates.

Opposition leader also strongly rejected the law that allows the use of drugs and cannabis in particular, saying the bill legalizes the drug use and pledging to strongly oppose it. He called for more serious researches into the pharmaceutical use of the cannabis.

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During the meeting, the opposition lawmakers, namely the Chairman of the DP parliamentary group Gazement Bardhi, MPs Jorida Tabaku and Oerd Bykykbashi, voiced concern over the current political situation, particularly focusing on the issue of parliamentary investigative committees, the electoral reform and the opposition’s demand for creation of a technical government to manage the upcoming parliamentary elections due next spring.

MP Bardhi said that the meeting with the EP delegation was taking place in a hotel, since “the parliamentary majority has punished the opposition.”

He claimed that Albanian parliament had failed to enforce the Constitutional Court ruling about the parliamentary mandate of Socialist MP Olta Xhaçka.

On her part, the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on European Affairs, Jorida Tabaku, underlined that Albania has already began the EU accession negotiations process with the first cluster on fundamentals opened recently, adding that the opposition was an actor in this process.

Tabaku said that the opposition was working on “the truths that are not always correctly written on the reports.” She claimed that the ruling Socialists dismissed the opposition’s demands for parliamentary investigative committees.

“The demand for investigative committees is turned down, because the majority is afraid. A few years ago, I chaired an inquiry committee on incinerators, which shed light into a scheme that sent many before justice, including a former deputy prime minister now wanted under an international warranty. Nine investigative committees, which are a mechanism in the hands of the opposition, have been dismissed since then,” Tabaku said.

She also accused the government of using every state means for narrow political interest following the adoption of the changes to the Electoral Code to allow diaspora to vote in Albanian elections.

According to her, the OSCE-ODIHR report notes that Prime Minister Edi Rama was using the diplomatic service to bank on the emigrants and diaspora support for the ruling Socialists in the next year’s parliamentary elections.

Opposition lawmakers insisted that creation of a technocratic administration ahead of the elections was vital.

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According to Basha, the request forwarded by Bardhi was “part of the deal between Prime Minister Edi Rama and the former PM Sali Berisha.”

“Their alliance is forged against the Special Anti-Corruption and Organized Crime Prosecution Structure (SPAK), aims at releasing those convicted on corruption charges and maintaining the notorious 2008 agreement,” Basha said in a statement posting on the social media.

According to Basha, “reinstatement of ex-PM Berisha is also part of the accord between the two.”

“This is the only way for the old political establishment to survive through closer ranks of the corrupt,” Basha said.

“The DP decision is clear and definite. No partnership forged by crime and corruption can undo that decision. No individual designated persona non grata will be part of the DP. DP supports SPAK unconditionally in the efforts to bring before justice all of those who have misused the Albanian taxpayers’ money. Open candidate lists, vote for the Diaspora, e-voting and counting,” Basha said.

Earlier today, Gazment Bardhi has reversed the exclusions imposed by Lulzim Basha, restoring several MPS to the DP parliamentary group, including ex-PM Sali Berisha, who was expelled from the DP parliamentary group in 2021 after the US State Department designated him for significant corruption.

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In a press statement, Pampuri claimed that “Edi Rama has boycotted the will of the voters on the day when according to the US numerous organized crime groups in Albania offered money, gifts or promises for jobs or benefits in exchange for votes for his party. Tomorrow, with the votes secured by the influence of organized crime, he will appoint his subordinate to the President’s office, boycotting the will of the Albanians for a consensus President.”

Pampuri said that “DP cannot attend the parliament session and act to legitimize capture of the President’s institution to witness a process whose outcome is already known.”

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Reacting to the election of new members of the DP National Council last weekend, the group stated that such an arbitrary approach will never help DP to win elections and become a governing majority.

Leading DP and opposition figures, including Edith Harxhi and Arben Ristani, were not elected to the party’s chairmanship.

“The most recent meeting of the Democratic Party’s Assembly on July 17, 2021, although not clearly determined whether it was an extraordinary meeting, statutory, or electoral meeting, took place in violation of the statutory rules of the Democratic Party. Not only the decisions were anti-statutory, but also the spirit conveyed was anti-democratic and anti-Euro-Atlantic. The lack of an in-depth analysis on the causes the April 25 election defeat, as well as the failure to assume responsibility, but on the contrary declaring the defeat as an electoral victory, were foolish and did not resemble at all form to the PD Assembly meeting until 2018,” the group said in a statement.

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