Tuesday, March 03, 2009

Inter-party cleavages send shock waves through Malёsia!


ALBANIAN ALTERNATIVE PARTY SPLITS ON ACCUSATIONS OF SABATOGE, SCANDAL, AND DECEPTION


TUZ,MALËSIA e MADHE, 3 MARCH 2009
– With just days left before Montenegro’s political parties were to remit their candidate’s names to appear on the ballots for the 29 March elections, the Albanian Alternative Party (AAP) in Tuz collapses amid reports of internal conflict between two party members vying for a seat in parliament.

The AAR’s Vasel Sinishtaj (Member of Parliament) and Nik Gjeloshaj are threatening to disrupt the constituent voting base in Malesia, which could potentially be the start of the end for the AAP.

In the narrowest of margins, the AAP steering committee last week selected Nik Gjeloshaj as their candidate to take over Sinishtaj’s seat in Parliament with a victory on 29 March. Sinishtaj, on the other hand, cried foul and accused Gjeloshaj of sabotaging the votes and not following quorum rules, which left out a key member’s vote who was at the time in Kosova.

Citizens of Tuz expressed outrage at the timing of the controversy, where each party had to submit a candidate’s name to appear on the ballot no later than 3 March. As the party negotiated through the weekend, neither person conceded to the other. Gjeloshaj claimed that he was selected according to party rules and regulations and that Sinishtaj’s efforts were for more selfish reasons than for the overall goals of the party. Gjeloshaj proposed that if an agreement could not be made between the two, that both candidates step down and allow a third member to move towards the candidacy.

Sinishtaj claimed that the root cause of the party’s differences took place last summer, where members of the governing board displayed signs of discontent with the AAPs overall progress and vision leading to the next round of elections. Suspicions between party members on who would be best fitted to lead the party increased further after the DPS announced early elections, whereafter the tables began to turn on Sinishtaj and roughly half the members turned their support to Gjeloshaj.

Meanwhile, two of Montenegro’s major daily papers – Vjesti and Dan – have taken the opportunity to underscore the schism between the AAP, further complicating public opinion and possibly leading to a disenfranchised electorate come 29 March.

Many citizens of Tuz are afraid that voters will abandon the AAP altogether and cast their vote for the Montenegrin parties, especially the ruling DPS, which has traditionally included Ferhat Dinosha in its coalition. This, in turn, would be devastating for a people that had worked so hard to elect “one of their own” in a region that has been torn by broken promises and dishonesty by the DPS. Another alternative will be the other Albanian parties, including a strong showing by FORCA, an Ulqin-based party that has made strong inroads in Malesia during the past year. But for many Albanians in Malesia, the AAP was seen as the party that aligned itself closest with the citizens of Tuz and the best fitted to appease some of the most pressing concerns in the region.

One resident in Tuz, summed it up by saying, “regardless of the outcome, Sinsihtaj and Gjeloshaj have failed to recognize that Malesia is bigger than they are, and the future of Albanians in this tiny region rests in the hands of its elected officials, who have until now disregarded their interests and breached their trust by mishandling the confidence they granted upon them when they were elected in 2006. So thus, it is not the majority that threatens the progression of Albanians, instead it is the long-standing egotism and jealousy of the few that continuous to plague and impede upon the evolution of the many.”

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

SEE Times ...

Montenegro's crisis-prompted elections

Montenegro's opposition parties will attempt to defeat the ruling coalition in the March 29th parliamentary elections by forming their own coalition and modernising their programme.

With the same aim, a new, economics-minded party, New Serbian Democracy, entered the political arena. Its predecessor was the Serbian People's Party.

The opposition, however, remains divided after inter-party clashes that resulted in the formation of two new parties, weakening its chances of presenting a united front.

A poll conducted in December by the Centre for Democracy indicates that the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), led by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and his allies, could secure a majority vote later this month.

The DPS and the small Social Democratic Party, led by Ranko Krivokapic, called early elections, claiming the timing would boost Montenegro's European integration in the upcoming four-year mandate, since it submitted its EU membership application in December.

The DPS also has its eye on the global economic crisis, expected to peak this year. The party believes 2009 may be a year of massive job losses, with big companies closing and tourism -- Montenegro's major source of income -- possibly hitting an all-time low.

The Movement for Changes split into two parties after its former vice president, Goran Batricevic, formed another party, the Democratic Centre.

The Serbian People's Party will fracture into at least two parties as well, after its leader, Andrija Mandic, formed New Serbian Democracy, a right-wing party mostly concerned with the economy and pursuing a more modernised programme than its predecessor, which had a radical nationalist and pro-Serbian agenda.

"We decided to show we can change and adjust to changes in the society, to show we are not slaves of the past," Mandic said at the party convention in January.

Mandic and Medojevic will try to persuade Srdjan Milic, the leader of the third main opposition party, the Socialist People's Party, to form a grand coalition.

Observers do not expect their task to be easy, since Milic wants every opposition party to join the new coalition, including those that are not eager to accept the invitation.

Anonymous said...

The truth is obvious -- Nik Gjeloshaj is in the pockets of the Montenegrin government; he was paid to disrupt the Alternative Party and steer the Albanian votes in the other direction.

Anonymous said...

Hey, this poltical confusion is bad for the people of Malesia. Both Vaseli and Nika are at fault here. I know one thing for sure: malsoret here and in Malesia are frustrated, humiliated, and betrayed by its leaders.The division among the mebers of Alternativa has started in the Fall,08; neither Vasle nor Nika have initiated anything to correct this dire condition, and now their electorate is very angry; they ignored the problems and did not given a thought to do something about it; they acted and perhaps wanted this chaotic situation to come! Now, moving Malesia forward with its current leaders, is not going to be easy! People are confused and do not know what to do! Nevertheless, I believe that people of Malesia will not vote for non-Albanian political parties, if they go to the voting polls, then they will vote for Albanian parties……yeeee now we have 6 of them. Congratulations Malesi!

Anonymous said...

Vaseli split and joined the "New Alliance" an independent push that could be costly. Shame on Gjeloshaj!

Anonymous said...

asht një tragjedi, por ky është fati i Shqiptarëve

Anonymous said...

Samo Albanci čine ovo moguće!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Stranka seljaci ne mogu biti djelotvorne vođe

-- Sasa

Anonymous said...

Postovani,

Svako iole informisan po ovom pitanju moze sa lakocom utvrditi da se ovdje ne radi u interesu naroda, u interesu Albanaca u Crnoj Gori, u interesu ravnopravne reprezentacije. Ovo je tipican slucaj Velikog Ega! Gospoda iz Malesije se utrkuju za "stolicu" i "slavu" koja dolazi sa njom. Gospodin Gjeloshaj je neiskusan i nespreman za poduhvate koji slijede. Ovo nikako ne znaci da nece biti spreman za godinu, dvije, pet... Ali postoji vrijeme za svaku odluku. Njegov "timing" je bio pogresan i kao sto ce se pokazati nakon izbora, poguban za nas narod. Ponizan i nemoralan nacin na koji je napravio potez neka njemu sluzi na cast! Kao Malisorka, stidim se cinjenice da u parlamentu stoje pet mjesta za nase predstavnike a da su samo tri popunjena. Zar je Malesia spala na ovo?! Najveca tragedija naseg naroda je ta da mozemo jedni drugima oprostiti sve osim uspjeha.
Pa ako se ne mozemo ujediniti i upravljati jednom strankom, kako cemo upravljati sa opstinom koju tazimo?!

Srdacan pozdrav!

Anonymous said...

CAN someone translate this into english please thanks!