The National Assembly of the Democratic Party, held today, has approved a Resolution that – among other things – has condemned the practice of boycott followed earlier by the party under former chairman Lulzim Basha and has decided to disregard it in the future. The Resolution also states that “the departure of the chairperson and their team from the lead of the party in case of losing the general elections will remain a fundamental and nonnegotiable principle”.

Resolution of the National Assembly of the Democratic Party

After a reflection on the activity and decision-making during two terms in the opposition, the Democratic Party is aware and determined to end the non-democratic practices and failed political approaches. The Democratic Party:

- Condemns and distances itself from the practice of boycotting the elections. The Democratic Party brought the pluralism and political freedom in Albania and it will never be, either directly or indirectly, part of efforts that harm the pluralism and limit the freedom of citizens’ political choice.

- Distances itself from the practice of relinquishing the parliamentary mandates. The parliamentarism is a fundamental value of every free and democratic society and the Democratic Party is determined to fight to enhance parliamentarism. The Democratic Party will be everywhere for the citizens’ interests and the Parliament of Albania is a key place for the protection of these interests.

- Condemns and distances itself from non-democratic ways in the leading of the party, giving an end to the chaircracy, arbitrary and individual decision-making, to leading the party through external structures, family power, cronies, and private advisers in the decision-making and party activity.

- Condemns and distances itself from the informal and nontransparent practices of external gathering and management of funds for the party. It condemns and distances itself from being involved in financial schemes and money circulation via offshore companies and illegal and nontransparent channels. It is committed to the professional management and full transparence of all the party finances.

-Distances itself from the practices of paid lobbying and condemns the use of lobbying to interfere in decision-making and domestic processes of other countries.

- Reconfirms the aspiration for which the Democratic Party was born: the European integration of the country and support for the Euro-Atlantic institutions and the United States of America. It reconfirms embracing and respecting all the values of the Conservative parties and European People's Party, of European and global political families.

- Reconfirms the principle of internal competition and race as a fundamental principal of party’s organization. All the candidates for public posts (MPs and mayors) and the main leaders of the party at all levels (chairpersons from the center to the base) will be selected via one-member-one-vote method. The most important decisions of party policies will be subjects of membership referendums.

- Reconfirms the determination to guarantee the renovation of the leading elites of the party, to guarantee the capacity and quality of its leaders. The departure of the chairperson and their team from the lead of the party in case of losing the general elections will remain a fundamental and nonnegotiable principle.

- Reconfirms the principle of opening the party, stipulating that every four years at least one third of all central statutory leaders of the party are renewed. It is specifically committed to opening up to youth and women: by 2025, 40 percent of all central statutory party leaders will be women and 30 percent under the age of 40.

- Is engaged in a permanent dialogue with citizens and social groups. It will establish and coordinate talking tours with the public on the most important political, economic and social issues in the country.

- Reconfirms the efforts to strengthen democracy and freedoms through active participation in elections and in all institutional political processes in the country. It reconfirms its commitment to all efforts to guarantee free and fair elections as the only way to seize and exercise power.

- Is committed to the modernization of the internal administration of the party to create a professional, efficient and impartial party administration that guarantees the smooth running of political activity and impartial internal electoral processes. It is committed to the digitalization and technology inclusion in every aspect of party membership management and administration.