SOCIALIST PARTY CONGRESS: RAMA'S REFORMS AND

C O N F I D E N T I A L TIRANA 000628

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EUR/SCE (BENEDICT, SAINZ)
NSC FOR BRAUN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV AL
SUBJECT: SOCIALIST PARTY CONGRESS: RAMA'S REFORMS AND
LEFT-WING UNITY

Classified By: CDA STEVEN ZATE. REASONS 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (SBU) Albania's Socialist Party (SP) held its first
Congress since its bitter defeat last July in Parliamentary
elections and the ascendancy of Tirana Mayor Edi Rama to the
Chairmanship of the party last fall. Former Chairman, and
fallen PM, Fatos Nano, was nowhere to be seen and his
supporters lay low for the most part. The party passed a
number of reforms -- most notably enshrinement of the one
member-one vote principle to elect Chairmen, and a bold
initiative to place more women in elected positions -- but
the highlight was a strong show of left-wing unity in hopeful
anticipation of local elections early next year. SP prodigal
son (and now LSI Chairman) Ilir Meta was welcomed with cheers
when introduced by Rama -- an event unthinkable a year ago.
End summary.


2. (U) On June 10, the Socialist Party (SP) held its
Congress in Tirana. About 500 delegates from all over Albania
participated. Special invitees included the leaders of the
small left-wing parties, all of which have recently
concluded cooperation agreements with the SP. These parties
were represented by their Chairmen -- Ilir Meta, Socialist
Movement for Integration (LSI); Skender Gjinushi,
Social-Democratic Party (PSD); Neritan Ceka, Democratic
Alliance (PAD); and Paskal Milo, Social Democracy Party
(PDS). Guest of honor for the event was Chairman of the
International Socialist and Greek party PASOK leader George
Papandreou. Other visitors included Hashim Thaci, Chairman
of Kosovo,s Democratic Party; a representative of the
Alliance for Kosovo,s Future (Rramush Haradinaj,s party).
The participants were shown video-taped greeting messages
from other international left-wing representatives, such as
the General Secretary of the Italian Democratic Socialist
Party, Piero Fassino and the President of the European
Socialist Party, Paul Nyurup Rasmussen.


3. (U) Fatos Nano, former chairman of the SP, was absent.
Nano's visible supporters -- a small group of participants --
tried a few times to chant his name, but were countered by
others exclaiming Rama's name, causing the Nano supporters to
progressively scale back their efforts.


4. (U) SP General Secretary Pandeli Majko opened the
conference, speaking about upcoming victory in the local
elections. He referred to an all inclusive policy in the
party, saying that the party needed everybody, including
old-guard figures like Nano, Servet Pellumbi, Namik Dokle,
and former President Rexhep Mejdani.


5. (U) SP Chairman Edi Rama spoke of the SP's defeat last
July, saying that that the SP received the "slap that it
deserved." He added, "Let anyone who thinks differently leave
right now, because then we will not condone, while pretending
not to see or hear, the moral damage he will have done to our
party." On upcoming local elections, Rama said the SP did
not have time to loose, but should move forward.


6. (SBU) Rama mentioned corruption, but he referred only to
petty communal or municipal elected officials, thus avoiding
any issue of high-level corruption within the SP. However,
referring to past SP mistakes (including political divisions
that resulted in fractioning and the creation of the LSI),
Rama said: "The SP cannot, must not, and will not lose an
election for the motives that brought it into the opposition.
We will win precisely because we will show in words and
deeds, everyday, that we have inherited from our past only
our undeniable virtues and achievements."


7. (U) Rama attacked PM Berisha, asking for "our old prime
minister to be sent home, without allowing him to completely
lose his wits while in office."


8. (U) Rama talked at length about the unity that the
left-wing parties claim to have just regained and about the
potential it represents. Referring to the SP's already
declared intention to seek early general elections next year,
Rama said, "it is up to us to carry out the change of
powers..." As proof of the unity, Rama gave a special
greeting to LSI chair Ilir Meta, as well as to other three
small parties, the chairmen of which joined him on stage at
the end of his speech.


9. (U) Chairman of the International Socialist and of the
Greek opposition party PASOK, George Papandreou, spoke as the
guest of honor and asserted that Albania's Greek minority was
a bridge for the development of the relations between the two
countries. Papandreou offered strong support for "his
friend" Edi Rama.


10. (C) In the afternoon session, reserved only for
delegates, the Congress approved changes proposed to its
Statute by a vote of 456 votes in favor and only 11 against.
Some QP luminarieq, sqspected of being Nano supporters, $ad
nOtavan 6o4e e.g., Petro Koci, Ilir Zela, Qen @lushi, IAqOQQQakrori, etc.).
Koci told t(a e%dha adDersApDsp(a4 this
was the first Congra2s g(epe fodE`apE 4g/a place. The new
Statute 2a.c4a,fdd DhE NhBiQ !`$ regulations for punishing QPQQQ,e,b$b0Q EpTaQhQqQ`$ the one member-one vote pQa.c(` ` b,BQQQEhEaQ)b aParty Chairman, decreased 4`$ c$ ,AQAp(BQQa`Qpship to 16 years; establiQ`$`a a4a4AC`0 Q`Q`Q for
women participation`Q a0`8QGQAhC(Q 0 percent in the
electoral Q`Q`Q``$A@QCPQ Q pources from the SP claimeQQQ Q Q@Q@@QQQ0 liberalization of the par0y, others saw
the changes as a means for Rama toconsolidate his 245-day
old chairmanship of the 0arty.


11. (C) COMMENT: Internal dissent within the SP seems to
have scaled back in the last tw months as Rama has pursued
reconciliation agreeQents with Meta's LSI and the other small
party allies. In doing so, Rama has brought everyone's focus
on the upcoming local elections -- now scheduled for late
2006 or early 2007 -- and, given the short time frame,
underscored the need for internal party unity in advance of
those elections. The Opposition clearly hopes that a strong
showing in those elections, combined with a subsequent
Parliamentary deadlock over selection of a new president in
the summer of 2007, will set the stage for early
Parliamentary elections and their possible return to power as
soon as next year.
ZATE