Tirana Court Rules Retrial in Main Opposition Party’s Leadership Battle

Albania's Appeal Court has ordered a retrial in the long-lasting case that should determine who will hold the seal of the main opposition centre-right Democratic Party.

This means that Enklejd Alibeaj, a main contester of ex-veteran party's leader Sali Berisha, will continue to lead the party in the months to come, including the preparations for the upcoming local elections scheduled for May 14.

The party has long been split between two factions, one centred around party founder and veteran political powerhouse Sali Berisha, and the other, currently around the party's parliamentary leader, Enklejd Alibeaj.

The lawyer of Enkelejd Alibeaj, Indrit Sefa, told local media that "the legitimacy (of the party) has been proven today." He also said that the party under the Alibeaj leadership will register the lists for the local election with the Central Elections Commission on Monday. There is no immediate reaction from Berisha so far but Oerd Bylykbashi, a representative of Berisha's group called the court ruling "a black day for politics and justice." Ahead of the court decision, thousands of supporters of Sali Berisha gathered on Friday at the Prime Minister's Office protesting against Socialist PM Edi Rama's government while the court session continued.

After the rival factions failed to reach an agreement between each other on who ran the party, a court ruling was the only way to put an end to the dispute.

Conflict in the party erupted last September when Lulzim Basha, then the party leader, expelled former PM and former president Berisha from the party's parliamentary group.

This came after the US declared him "persona non-grata" for alleged involvement in "significant corruption", "misappropriation of public funds" and interference...