New Albanian party to be formed in Macedonia

This week, as “Nezavisen/Independent” finds out, a new party will be formed on the Albanian political campus. As unofficially learned, preparations for the new Albanian party are nearing completion, and only details are left to be resolved before it is officially presented to the citizens of Macedonia. The new party will be headed by a former minister in the government from 2006-2008, Xhelil Bajrami, who currently resides in Albania.

The main reason that a new party is deemed necessary on the Albanian political campus is the weakened vote of the Albanians, which was shown in the last parliamentary elections through the seats won in the Parliament.
After the independence of Macedonia and its proclamation of an independent state, there was only one Albanian political entity in the country, while in 2018 there was a total of seven Albanian parties. Most Albanians ask whether the Macedonian political scene needs a new, eighth political entity?

On this topic, “Nezavisen/Independent” spoke with political analysts Imer Selmani and Mersel Bilali. Former Minister, MP and Mayor Imer Selmani believes that this issue has both a good and a bad side. According to him, it is positive that there will be competition among the Albanian parties, but depending on the orientation and the program of the new party will depend on whether the voice of the Albanians in the country will be united or divided.

This question in itself contains two responses: one is that competition is a good thing; therefore, we must never return to the system of monism with one party, because then the politicians who lead that party fall in love with themselves, become arrogant and do not have the needs of the citizens as their priority. On the other hand, the question arises as to whether there is a need for the votes to split? Surely there is no need for such a thing because we are not the majority in Macedonia. But for this issue, there are ways to unify the voice through various pre-election coalitions in a dimension in which political parties identify and have a common platform, program and interests,” Selmani said. However, as Selmani added, citizens are the ones who will eventually speak their word and opinion on any party through elections.

According to analyst Mersel Bilali, in the Albanian political campus, a party is needed that will nurture the civic concept and which will contain democratic and western values.

“I think that it is the legal and constitutional right of anyone who thinks to form a party to do it, but certainly it is about structures that do not represent relevant figures and it concerns certain individual interests that do not have the capacity to awaken the political ambience. But we can talk about the need for a new political entity that is citizen oriented with democratic and Western values. We have a great need for this kind of party because we do not have such a political party here. But this is done in a much more serious way than the tendencies that arise from time to time in Macedonia,” Bilali said.
Most analysts believe that new political subjects are welcomed on the political scene in the country, but one should bear in mind the content of their program that they should present to citizens, who will have an opportunity to give their opinion in the elections.

Blerim Ismaili