Former Premier Sali Berisha blamed today Democratic Party Chairman Lulzim Basha for all the defeats of the party in the last eight years. Berisha stepped down from his post as chairman in 2013 following the defeat in the general elections after being for eight years in power. His successor Basha is yet to win an election, scoring only defeats in general and local elections, the latest on April 25 this year.

In the ceremony for the National Youth Day, Berisha said the Democratic Party has known only losses due to Lulzim Basha.

“In the last three decades, Albania accomplished great things under the Democratic Party government, more than any other country in Europe and beyond”, said Berisha. “From the most isolated country in the planet, Albania became a member of the Council of Europe and NATO; and it passed in the group of countries with average and high incomes”.

“Democrats went from one defeat to another, not for their faults, but because of the man that eight years later deserves nothing but being called Lulzim Boshi (the empty one – bosh is the Albanian for empty) or the Chairman Hostage. If today we say that Edi Rama is the fiercest enemy of pluralism and democracy in Albania, Basha is their biggest traitor”.