Enkelejd Alibeaj has declared that he will not be part of the parliamentary group led by Sali Berisha. As he has reflected for several days since the announcement of the court’s decision, which gave the seal and logo to Sali Berisha, Alibeaj says that he distances himself from the old politics.
Through a post on social networks, he says that he is a democrat, but saying that he does not accept the condition that to be a democrat you must be with Sali Berisha.
He says that he chose not to join Sali Berisha as a sign of respect for the Court’s decision.
Alibeaj’s reaction
The decision of the Court of Appeal was a great weight for the Democrats and the battle within the DP. Above all for me, as the signatory of the appeal against Zhukri’s decision. I was convinced then, and I still have it today, that it was the only way, institutional and based on legal arguments, to reject the illegality of the court decision. Because even in the party organization, the will must be shaped and manifested according to the statutory rules and not with chaos and violence.
Now the decision of the appeal has been given, maybe it’s only up to me, but in any case more than anyone else, not to be silent. Not to comment on the court’s decision, because I maintain that I will accept the decision without comment. But I have no choice but to dwell on the consequences of this decision for DP, and among other things, on my position or responsibility after this.
DP, at least in my eyes, for these 3 years, has not been a legal “casus”, but the political free will of people who believed in its values. The last 3 years clearly showed that this will was focused on internal battles, mainly on the battle with Berishism within the PD, as a mindset and ideology, where the energy of the majority of the Democrats was focused. I do not hide that beyond the legal act of appeal, my aim and effort was to make it possible for the PD to be dominated by a new model and mindset, otherwise, able to transform the PD into the main force to challenge Rama’s model. Returning to its ideology and fundamental values. To be embraced as hope by the vast majority of Albanians. In the absence of internal, spontaneous and natural transformation, the judicial path came and remained simply an instrument unsolicited by me, but obligatory to follow. Now the court decision sealed it without giving me the right.
The reasons why this happened are visible and invisible. But the economic interests that keep the old Berisha-Rama alliance afloat cannot be hidden. As well as the convenience of being two old and worn parts of politics that cannot survive without each other. It is no coincidence that this trend had the support of the government and a good part of the media.
During these 3 years, I have been one of a group of people, who have tried, as a group not large in number, a group with reduced means, but with desire, hope and ideas to stand firmly against the old within the DP, with the conviction of adamant that the majority of Albanians want this change. Our attitude has been appreciated by the democrats and attacked by the government and a part of those who do not want change in the DP. The accusations, attacks and scum that the party led by Berisha threw at all those who dared to oppose his line in DP is also a strong reason to demand the change of political force that marked the creation of pluralism in Albania.
The decision of the Court of Appeal a few days ago marked the status quo of this party. The party that officially belongs to Sali Berisha and his way of running and doing politics. Personally, I parted with this way many years ago and at all times I have tried to prove that I belong to a different political strain. I do not believe in Sali Berisha’s promise that his DP will have internal democracy and respect for different opinions. Above all, I do not think that it can be the political offer that Albanians deserve. As a form and way of doing politics, it is a dysfunctional model of the battle with Rama. Two similar models, symbiotic, cannot face each other, bringing results different from the one we have.
I stick to the truth and my conviction that this mentality and political culture must be removed from DP and politics. Rama’s Berishism is the clearest proof in the eyes of the Albanians of what gloom and despair it has created for them. Whatever the truth of the numbers, what counts is the truth of what he believes will bring the best for the country and the citizens.
I am a democrat because I believe in the values for which I was once born as DP. But if to be a “democrat” the condition is to be a “Berishist” and with Sali Berisha, I am not like that. And pretending not to be part of the old model in politics, trying to be coherent with the positions so far, I declare that I do not join the DP parliamentary group led by Sali Berisha. This is my choice as a sign of respect for the court’s decision, my attitude so far, those who think differently from me, and the sad feeling that such a PD, thus does not serve the Albanians who want change, nor can they give faith.
