Myujth

Democratic Party of Albania Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë
Albanian name	Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë
Leader	Lulzim Basha
Leader of the Parliamentary Group	Edmond Spaho
General Secretary	Arben Ristani
Founder	Sali Berisha
Founded	12 December 1990[1]
Headquarters	Bulevardi Zhan'dark 11, 1000, Tirana, Albania
Newspaper	Rilindja Demokratike
Youth wing	Forumi Rinor i Partise Demokratike
Membership (1991)	34,892
Ideology	Conservatism[2][3][4] Liberal conservatism[5] Pro-Europeanism[5]
Political position	Centre-right[5]
European affiliation	European People's Party[6]
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International, International Democrat Union
Slogan	Republika e Re! (New Republic!)[7]
National Assembly	43 / 140
Municipality	16 / 61
Website
http://www.pd.al/
Politics of Albania Political parties Elections

Albania
This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Albania
Constitution Human rights
Executive President (List) Ilir Meta Prime Minister (List) Edi Rama Deputy Prime Minister (List) Senida Mesi Cabinet
Legislature Parliament Speaker (List) Gramoz Ruçi Committees Members Leader of the Opposition
Judiciary Constitutional Court Administrative Court Court of Justice (ordinary) Supreme Court
Administrative divisions Counties Municipalities Cities Villages
Elections Recent elections Presidential 2007 2012 2017 Parliamentary 2009 2013 2017 Local 2007 2011 2015 Referendums 1994 1997 1998 Political parties Parliamentary PD PS LSI PDIU FRD PR PBDNJ LIBRA
Foreign relations Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Minister: Ditmir Bushati Diplomatic missions of Albania in Albania Foreign relations of Albania
Other countries Atlas
v t e

The Democratic Party of Albania (Albanian: Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, PD or PDSh) is a conservative^[2][3][4]political party in Albania. The party became the leading party in the governing coalition following the 2005 parliamentary elections. It is an observer member of the European People's Party (EPP) and a full member of the International Democrat Union and Centrist Democrat International.^[8][9][10]Rilindja Demokratike is the party's official newspaper.^[11]

History

The party was founded on 12 December 1990 by Avdyl Matoshi, Azem Hajdari, Sali Berisha and Gramoz Pashko.^[12]Arben Imami, Edmond Budina, Eduard 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.^[13][14]

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.^[15]

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.^[16]

On 18 February 2017 members of the Democratic Party and other opposition parties, under the leadership of Lulzim 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.^[17][18]

Headquarters

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

Election results

Year	Votes	%	Seats	Position	+/–	Government
1991	720,948	38.7%	75 / 250	2nd	75	Coalition
1992	1,046,193	57.3%	92 / 140	1st	17	Coalition
1996	914,218	55.2%	122 / 140	1st	30	Coalition
1997	315,677	24.1%	40 / 155	2nd	93	Coalition
2001	494,272	36.9%	46 / 140	2nd	24	Opposition
2005	602,066	44,1%	56 / 140	1st	10	Coalition
2009	610,463	40.2%	68 / 140	2nd	12	Coalition
2013	528,373	30.6%	50 / 140	2nd	18	Opposition
2017	427,778	28.8%	43 / 140	2nd	7	Opposition

Chairmen of PD

2009 national elections

After the Albanian parliament elections of 2009 the Democrats won 67 MPs. The current list as of September 2011:^[19][20]

2013 national elections

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

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Democratic Party

External links

• Official website

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Democratic Party of Albania.