Democratic Party of Albania

The party was founded on 12 December 1990 by Avdyl Matoshi, Azem Hajdari, Sali Berisha and Gramoz Pashko.[10] Arben Imami, Edmond Budina, Eduart Selami, Genc Ruli, Merita Zaloshnja and Aleksandër Meksi also took part in the early activities of the party. It was the first opposition party after they were legalized.

The party came to power in 1992 after winning the 1992 parliamentary election under the leadership of Sali Berisha and Aleksander Meksi and ruled until 1997. The government resigned in 1997 following a scandal over massive corruption during which a civil war nearly broke out. It was part of the Union for Victory (Bashkimi për Fitoren) coalition, which received 37.1 percent of the vote in the 2001 elections and 46 members of parliament.

In the 2005 parliamentary elections, the Democratic Party won 56 of the 140 seats and its allies won 18 under the call Time for Changes (Koha per Ndryshim). Two other parties also joined the new coalition (PAA of the left wing & PBDNJ of the Greek minority, with 4 and 2 seats, respectively). This meant that with a combined total of 79 seats, the Democratic Party and its allies were able to form a government with Sali Berisha becoming Prime Minister. One of his priorities was Albanian integration to NATO, an objective he accomplished in 2009 when Albania and Croatia were accepted as members.

After the defeat in the 2013 parliamentary election, Berisha announced his resignation as party leader. A one-member-one-vote election was held for the first time on 23 July 2013, in which Lulzim Basha defeated his opponent Sokol Olldashi and was elected chairman of the Democratic Party.[11][12]

On 30 September 2014, a national congress of the Democratic Party was held to elect a new leadership and to announce a tough reform of the party.[13]

On the 26th anniversary of the Democratic Party, party leader Basha announced his program for the further modernization and democratization of the party ahead of the 2017 parliamentary elections.

After previously promising that 35% of the parliamentary candidates would consist of members from the youth movement of the Party, Basha now announced a limitations of all mandates of the party leaders to a two-year term, and the full democratization of the internal election process.[14]

On 18 February 2017 members of the Democratic Party and other opposition parties, under the leadership of Basha pitched a giant tent outside the Prime Minister's office in Tirana after thousands of protesters rallied to demand free elections and a technocrat government. The opposition protest further escalated into a larger political conflict. The Democratic Party and its allies refused to register to take part in the June 18 general election, until the government will accept their conditions to secure a free and democratic election.[15][16]

The party's headquarters is in Tirana, 50m from the Albanian parliament. The Rilindja Demokratike newspaper shares the building with the Democratic Party.

After the Albanian parliament elections of 2009 the Democrats won 67 MPs. The current list as of September 2011:[17][18]

After the Albanian parliament elections of 2013 the Democrats won 45 MPs. The current list as of September 2013:

In the general elections of 2017 DP won 43 out of 140 seats in parliament coming second after only SP and being the main largest party of the opposition of Albania and its leader, Lulzim Basha the leader of opposition.

As of May 2019 the opposition MPs consisting of DP, SMI and other minor parties left their MP mandates accusing the Government of manipulating the elections due to some evidences provided by international media. Since then 17 deputies have accepted the mandate to replace resigned MPs. As of June 2019, the opposition has organised 7 massive national protests and several smaller ones in the capital, Tirana.

• Official website

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