Mejdani strips the socialists of their tin
He’s red; the others are blue
“Albania must not be divided only into ‘red and blue.’ Its only color should be Albania.”
These are the latest ideas Mr. Mejdani has put forward for electoral consumption. This is the first time a Socialist Party (PS) leader has advanced such an idea. Although, up to now, a similar policy of depolarizing society has been advocated by the right, or more precisely by the Republican Party (PR). Taking this kind of policy as his starting point, in the current campaign Mr. Alibali, the PR candidate for the Tirana Municipality, also issued an appeal for tolerance toward his rivals. It seems that such an appeal, which champions the idea of a calm campaign, has not gone unnoticed in PS circles either. Starting from a republican idea, Mr. Mejdani tried to embrace the same initiative, and there is absolutely nothing to worry about in that—in fact, quite the opposite. What is striking in Mr. Mejdani’s statement is his swipe at political colors. By implying that by “blue” he means the Democratic Party (PD), and by red the Party he leads in Mr. Nano’s absence, the PS Secretary General has in a way acknowledged the Party’s and its supporters’ color. From its very beginnings, the PS has been accused of overt red, meaning communist, tendencies. After the Congress that changed its name, the PS has not been particularly concerned about its skin color, but after the August turmoil the PS and its representatives have tried to get rid of the color of the flame. Indeed, their reaction to this color has been so strong that even their opponents have not used the label “Red Front” for some time. Yet just as the pink suit was beginning to suit the PS, its newly elected number-two leader, much talked about even among socialists themselves, makes a thunderous statement like this. Clearly demonstrating his limited experience in politics, Mr. Mejdani proves that he is not cut out to be a leader, since he cannot even defend a victory won through hard work on the PS barricades. Although red suits the communist fanatics who still dominate the PS, a good part of the Party—the reformers and political acrobats—will find it hard to swallow the red spoon served up by their own boss. Although there has been no open reaction to such a statement, it is said that the PS’s back corridors have not been silent. It is not known whether their echoes have reached Bern, while another “top-secret” letter from Mr. Nano is expected to arrive from the distant southern province. Given the well-known contents of that letter (let us not forget that at one point Mr. Thoma Gëllçi was jokingly called “jegur” in it), it would not be surprising if Mr. Mejdani were also called “redskin,” although no one has so far spoken of any direct connection between him and them.