Albania’s opposition Democratic Party (DP) re-elected Lulzim Basha as party leader for another four-year mandate on July 22, despite the catastrophic general election defeat in June.

Basha, 43, was heavily criticised for the party’s loss in the June 25 election, in which the Socialist Party won 48% of the votes while the Democrats took only 28.6%. There has been speculation that Basha’s threat to boycott the election, which could have put Albania’s prospects of EU accession at risk, damaged the party’s image with voters. 

Despite this, over 90% of party delegates voted for Basha on July 22, overwhelmingly defeating his only rival Eduard Selami, who had promised to give a new impetus to the party.

“I am deeply touched and grateful to all Democrats for the trust they gave me,” Basha said in a party statement on July 23.

The campaign to elect a new leader of the Democratic Party was officially launched on July 5, with only Basha and Selami having registered by the July 2 deadline.

Basha said that the party’s mission is to guarantee progress for Albania.

"The Democrats really lost the election, but did not lose the faith in our party," Basha said after he was given a second mandate as leader.

Following the election defeat, which took the Democrats by surprise, Basha froze his functions in the party. While accusing the Socialists of mass vote buying, Basha also assumed responsibility for the catastrophic result.

“Where I’ve made mistakes or how much I’ve been mistaken will be decided by the Democrats,” Basha was cited as saying at the time.

During the pre-election campaign, Basha, a former Tirana mayor, promised lower taxes, higher economic growth and a stepping up of the fight against corruption. 

Basha fought a sometimes negative campaign, accusing Rama of failing to fight drug trafficking in the country, and also claiming the prime minister had links with drug traffickers, an accusation Rama has denied.