Basha wins, finally

Alfred Lela

Lulzim Basha has resigned as chairman of the Democratic Party, ending not only the last leg of a crisis that has plagued the DP for months but also the public perception of his political figure as a bad loser.

Basha's departure is the next link, one of the most important, in the chain of liberation events that will determine the developments in the Democratic Party, but also beyond.

Having said that, it is the day not to do the radiography of Lulzim Basha of the past, but to project him together with other democratic exponents in the future of this political force. Sali Berisha was right when he offered an olive branch in the direction of the other bloc in the DP, despite the knowledge that they represented, as he proved on March 6, a minority of human resources with most of the institutional attributes such as initials, seals, headquarters, etc.

Lulzim Basha has not only liberated these means of representation and power, not only his followers and the Democratic Party but especially himself.

Of course, an immediate reflection after the March 6 loss should have been even more welcome, but the delay did not undo today’s act.

It does not matter what his further actions are, as long as he seems to have ruled out 'freezing functions' and other similar artifices. The resignation seems complete, unequivocal, and without an apocalyptic language.

Has peace been reached with Berisha? There is no harm, as long as this peace is not for maintaining the status quo. If so the Democrats and the opposition should abandon both. The status quo means that one is the chairman and the other pretends to be. This game of mirrors has taken the Democratic Party by the neck for a long time.

We need, therefore, an open, fair, concrete, distinct, American race for party leader. Let Berisha enter the race because he is the one who cut the Gordian knot, let Basha enter the race even though he was in the knot himself, let the others also try their hand.

From this opening, from this race, from the laws of the democratic process, the DP can start once again.

Tomorrow is March 22nd. Thirty years ago, the Democratic Party came to power with a spectacle of votes and support. Lulzim Basha chose to liberate the party on the eve of this anniversary. The symbolism does not mean that a second March 22 is behind the door for the Democratic Party, but history is full of comebacks.

Let Basha take the second step. This time forward, but again in the right direction. Democrats should not rejoice over who fell and who rose but remember the peak of thirty years ago and the hard road to repetition. The road that, if in '92 was filled with historic fortunes, thirty years later requires only the right decisions and colossal work.