Sali Berisha, 81, a figure who has dominated Albania’s post-communist politics for more than three decades, is expected to be re-elected chairman of the Democratic Party on May 23 without a single challenger in the race.
Although the country’s largest opposition party formally opened a process for registering candidates for party leader, the party structures controlled by Berisha did not allow potential rivals to challenge him.
Ervin Salianji, a former MP and initiator of an internal movement critical of Berisha, had his candidacy rejected for “failing to meet the criteria” and was accused by party forum leaders and Berisha himself of being a tool of political opponents.
The same fate befell the ambitions of Mereme Sela, a little-known party member who was disqualified from the race for a “lack of recognised contribution to the party.”
Salianji accused Berisha of treating the party as a “personal property” rather than a public asset built through the sacrifices of thousands of Democrats.
“When competition is blocked, the party is not being protected; instead, the narrow interests of a group driven only by fear are being protected: fear of the vote, fear of justice, fear of the past,” he said in a public reaction.
In response, Berisha described the upcoming May 23 vote as “the fairest competition and the most democratic form of contest that can exist,” referring to the fact that the party chairman would be elected directly by party members.
The Democratic Party’s spokesman, Alfred Lela, reinforced this position, telling BIRN that the nomination process had been open and regular, based on criteria that, according to him, were not met by those seeking to enter the race.
“Those who were party members did not meet the criteria, while others had openly worked and run for other parties, or had been identified as having clear links to crime, making them unworthy of candidacy,” Lela said.
“Nevertheless, the Democratic Party has a Court which, according to the statute, is obliged to review any complaints related to the process and claims. So far, no complaints have been submitted,” he added.
Berisha’s formal election at the head of the Democratic Party comes after the heavy defeat suffered by the opposition coalition in the May 2025 parliamentary elections, where it secured only 50 parliamentary seats against the Socialist Party, which won a fourth governing mandate with an almost qualified majority of 83 seats.
For political analysts, Berisha’s uncontested re-election demonstrates the absence of internal democracy while raising concerns about the future of the opposition itself.
“The fact that the Democratic Party is closing its internal electoral process amid numerous disputes in local branches and with an entirely formal process for electing the chairman proves what has long been said — that this party is not democratic,” said Afrim Krasniqi, director of the Institute for Political Studies.
“It is a party functioning largely in the interests of one person and his inner circle, where neither votes, nor rivalry, nor hopes for genuine competition have any value in this kind of situation,” he added.
For political analyst Fitim Zekthi, the absence of competition for the leadership is evidence that the Democratic Party is in crisis, unable to produce a candidate capable of challenging the current chairman.
“The Democratic Party has been doing the same thing for a very long time — with the same language, the same people, the same style and the same leadership,” Zekthi said, adding that despite repeated electoral defeats, the party continues unchanged.
Lela did not respond to questions concerning criticism over the lack of internal democracy, but described the electoral round as “the party’s preparation for the next phase of confrontation with the narco-government, whose platform will be announced at the National Assembly on May 30.”
Cult of the Individual
Berisha, a cardiologist by profession, was first elected head of the Democratic Party in September 1991 after defeating rivals Gramoz Pashko and Azem Hajdari, with whom he led the student protests that marked the collapse of Albania’s communist regime.
Berisha resigned from the party leadership after being elected president in 1992, but returned to lead the party again in 1997. In what appeared to be a political farewell marking the end of his active career, Berisha stepped down following the Democratic Party’s defeat in the 2013 parliamentary elections, after eight years serving as prime minister.
However, he returned in 2021 after his former protégé, Lulzim Basha, moved against him and expelled him from the party after Berisha was declared persona non grata by the U.S. State Department. Berisha led an internal political movement and legal battle that culminated in regaining control of the party, though he failed to return it to electoral victory in subsequent contests.
Under his renewed leadership, Berisha faced a corruption investigation by Albania’s Special Prosecution Office, a case that has now reached the courts. He has fiercely rejected the charges as politically motivated persecution orchestrated, according to him, by Edi Rama and figures within the prosecution and judiciary.
Krasniqi and Zekthi both view Berisha’s insistence on maintaining control of the party at all costs as closely linked to his ongoing legal troubles and his use of the party as a political “shield.”
Krasniqi criticised Berisha’s approach of individually controlling the Democratic Party in an effort to impose himself on the country’s political life.
“An individual can dominate a party if the party is strong, but if it is weak and continues to be weak, as the Democratic Party is, then it is no longer a political force capable of serving even as support in the personal confrontation he has with the justice system,” Krasniqi argued.
Zekthi likewise believes that Berisha’s leadership of the Democratic Party offers him greater opportunities to defend himself in his confrontation with the judiciary. Beyond that, Zekthi says the Democratic Party is now facing an even deeper political crisis, with consequences for its future.
“The fact that he receives votes is something that makes no logical sense in a democracy. In a democracy, the discussion is whether you can win power and defeat the ruling party — not defeat people within your own party,” Zekthi said.
“You cannot fight for pluralism while attacking anyone critical of the Democratic Party as bought off or as an enemy,” he added, warning that this behaviour would have irreversible consequences for the party.
The leadership of a party without open debate and in the absence of political rivalry is not only a feature of Berisha’s leadership, but also of Prime Minister Rama on the other side of the political spectrum.
According to Krasniqi, this is reflected in the democratic quality of the country itself.
“As long as there are no real elections, because both the Socialist Party and the Democratic Party have turned them into purely formal exercises, it is utopian for citizens to expect that these parties — which tolerate no differing opinions or factions within them — will produce better democracy for the country or constructive public debate,” Krasniqi said.
“Parties built around a cult of the individual,” Krasniqi added, “ultimately share the same fate as that individual, and history shows they have not been successful in the long term.”
