Unity of the Albanian left
HIGHLIGHTING
Albanian left-wing parties decided to enter the parliamentary elections of June 29 with a joint alliance for cooperation before and after the elections.
The fruit of this alliance is, in particular, the political agreement signed between the PSSH and PSD for the new parliamentary elections. This is an important event in Albanian political life, appearing for the first time in this form and constituting an initiative of historic value for the Albanian left. Pre- and post-election alliances and coalitions are familiar phenomena during such election periods, among political forces with similar programs within the political spectrum. This is a well-established practice in the political life of developed democratic countries. In the most recent parliamentary elections in Italy, it was the Olive Tree coalition, led by Romano Prodi, which brought together several left-wing and centrist parties, that won the election and governs the country today. The freshest example is the French left-wing coalition, in which the Socialist Party, together with the Communists and the Greens, won the election and formed the new French government. Cooperation between political forces belonging to the same political spectrum has now become familiar in our country as well. This cooperation was most visible during the November 6 Referendum campaign, when a large number of opposition parties stood against the PD and Berisha. These opposition parties were united in their shared opposition to the PD and Berisha by their rejection of an unconstitutional referendum that divides a dictatorial constitution. The value of this undeclared alliance was evident in the Referendum results. The central axis of this alliance consisted of the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party, which campaigned with a call to vote against the illegal, antidemocratic constitution. The experience of inter-party cooperation, crowned in the Referendum, also formed the basis for cooperation in the elections of May 26 last year. In that election, PS cooperation extended to parties such as PSD, PAD, PUK, PA, etc. Meanwhile, the Forum for Democracy, established at the beginning of this year, represented the highest level of electoral cooperation at a time of crisis such as the one Albania was facing. The current alliance between the PSSH, PSD and several other parties on the left has not emerged on untouched ground. It has traditional roots, even under the conditions of Albania’s new democracy. What is new about the current cooperation is its scale and the broad scope of cooperation before and after the elections. (Continued on page 2)