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EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Bitter rivals in Albania race

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Political players contesting Albania’s legislative election on Sunday harbour long-held animosities that border on hatred. The vote, which pitches the ruling Socialists against the opposition Democratic Party, will test the democratic maturity of a country eager to join the European Union. Albania’s authoritative premier since 2013, Socialist leader Edi Rama has pledged to build a “European Albania” as a “modern state ruled by law” ever since he entered politics after the fall of Enver Hoxha’s communist dictatorship in the late 1980s.He has long sought power, declaring an election he lost in 2009 as neither free nor fair. His supporters took to the streets in 2011, and three were killed by gunfire. The episode deepened Rama’s rivalry with then-PM Sali Berisha of the Democratic Party.The pair had fallen out over an ideological dispute as students. A former mayor of the capital Tirana, 52-year-old Rama is regularly accused by the right of links to organised crime. He has offered to step down if they provide evidence. Often casually dressed in a T-shirt, with short hair and a regular three-day beard, Rama is seen as a dynamic and savvy communicator. He studied at art school in Paris and his office is covered with his own paintings. The first non-communist president and a former PM, Sali Berisha has dominated Albanian politics for the past two decades.A cardiologist by training, he stepped down as party chief in 2013 and named close ally Lulzim Basha as his successor, but Berisha is still considered a unifying figure of the political right.A charismatic speaker, Berisha is less present in electoral meetings but remains active in the media. Berisha’s opponents see him as representative of a corrupt political system and responsible for the chaos of 1997, when more than 2,000 were killed in an armed rebellion. The unrest was triggered by the collapse of a fraudulent pyramid investment scheme that he had allowed to flourish.Lulzim Basha, the Democrats’ leader since 2013, asserts that he has moved on from the tutelage of Berisha and intends to build a “New Republic”. The ambitious lawyer has had a meteoric career, serving as minister of foreign affairs, interior and transport.The 43-year-old was also mayor of Tirana — defeating Rama to the job in 2011 — before Berisha named him the new party chief. Basha boycotted parliament for several months this year and organised street protests calling for Rama’s resignation and a transitional government to ensure a free and fair election. But the two sides struck a deal in mid-May, with the Democrats given control of several ministries in the run-up to the vote.  — AFP


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