Ervin Salianji: Berisha’s visit to the US is positive, but the DP must break with the past to bring down Rama

Former Democratic Party MP Ervin Salianji has described Sali Berisha’s trip to the United States as a positive development, linking the move to improved relations between the DP and Albania’s strategic ally.

Salianji nevertheless argues that the opposition’s main political problem is not in Washington, but in Tirana.

According to him, the DP remains constrained by the past and by the clashes surrounding Berisha’s figure, while it must prove to citizens that it is capable of offering a governing alternative.

In his statement, Salianji says that Edi Rama no longer enjoys the support of the citizens, but stresses that the prime minister can be removed only through a credible opposition.

For this reason, he calls on Berisha to reflect and consider resigning, as a step that would pave the way for change within the Democratic Party.

According to Salianji, Berisha’s trip highlights a paradox: he can travel to the United States, but politically he is unable to move forward in Albania.

He claims that Berisha cannot persuade Fier to organize a meeting, is unable to visit the city and cannot win Shkodra, cannot hold a meeting or mobilize Vlora, cannot organize a meeting in Berat, and is not accepted by protesters in Tirana.

Salianji also adds that, above all, Berisha is unable to convince the majority of Albanians that he represents the solution for the country’s future.

For the former Democratic Party MP, any positive development that may come from Washington does not change the fact that the DP’s challenge lies in Tirana.

“Edi Rama will not be removed by constantly bringing back the past. He can be removed only by building an alternative that Albanians believe can replace him. Today, the main obstacle to this alternative is the fact that the DP continues to be held hostage by a battle over the past, instead of focusing on building the future,” Salianji says.

He describes the trip as an opportunity for Sali Berisha, away from the noise of daily events, to consider the request that may be made of him: resignation.

Salianji calls on Berisha to accept that his history cannot forever coincide with the history of the Democratic Party.

“A party cannot remain hostage to one individual. A dignified resignation would not be a personal loss, but could represent his final major political contribution to Albania and the Democratic Party,” he continues.

According to Salianji, if Berisha places the public interest above everything else and genuinely cares about the Democratic Party, he must give this political force what he has so far been unable to secure for it: the opportunity to win.

“Albania needs an opposition that wins, not an opposition that merely survives. The time for change is now. Edi Rama has lost popular support, and citizens are waiting for the opposition to change so that they can remove the prime minister as soon as possible,” concludes Ervin Salianji’s statement.