Gazment Bardhi’s tactical betrayal of ‘unity in diversity’

One of the key differences between Gazment Bardhi and Sali Berisha last year was Bardhi’s belief in justice system reforms and the new institutions established by them. Berisha, in contrast, refused to even acknowledge these institutions. To bridge this divide, which kept Bardhi from aligning with Berisha’s followers, Bardhi introduced the concept of “unity in diversity,” emphasizing unity rather than Berisha’s combative stance against the justice system.

Fast forward a year, just a month before the candidate lists for the May elections are announced, Bardhi has found a pretext to justify his political alignment with Berisha. He has adopted one of Berisha’s false claims about Prime Minister Edi Rama’s brother and forwarded it to SPAK (Albania’s Special Structure against Corruption and Organized Crime) for verification.

On Friday, SPAK responded, confirming that there was no evidence linking the prime minister’s brother to the scandal alleged by Bardhi and Berisha. Bardhi, notably, had not submitted any evidence to SPAK. He merely asked them to verify Berisha’s claims about the prime minister’s brother, and SPAK’s official response was that the claims were untrue.

If Bardhi’s intention was to clarify this issue and he truly trusts SPAK, he should now thank them for their swift response and apologize to the prime minister’s brother, given that Berisha’s accusations have been debunked. However, Bardhi’s actions suggest he was never genuinely interested in the truth. Instead, his strategy appears to have been about shedding his image as SPAK’s advocate to align more closely with Berisha.

This became evident on Friday when Bardhi adopted the same rhetoric as Berisha to attack SPAK. What set them apart a year ago – their differing views on SPAK – has now vanished, with both speaking in unison. Thus, Bardhi’s accusations against Edi Rama’s brother and his approach to SPAK were merely tactics to demonstrate loyalty to Berisha.

This alignment gives Berisha another reason to include Bardhi on his party’s candidate list for the May elections. If additional proof of loyalty is needed, Bardhi might go as far as attacking Enkelejd Alibeaj’s wife, a Constitutional Court member, for living with her partner without being officially married. Such a move would further showcase Bardhi’s willingness to sacrifice principles for a spot on the candidate list.

Meanwhile, the prime minister’s brother has the right to sue Bardhi for defamation. However, this may not be an urgent concern for him. For Bardhi, though, time is running out, as the candidate lists must be finalized this month. By now, Bardhi has shown that his mistrust of SPAK isn’t due to doubts about its ability to deliver justice but because it refuses to turn Berisha’s claims into charges against his political opponents.

The article initially appeared in Albanian titled: "Një zgjidhje inteligjente e Gazment Bardhit për të prishur 'bashkimin në diversitet'"

The article initially appeared in Albanian titled: "Një zgjidhje inteligjente e Gazment Bardhit për të prishur 'bashkimin në diversitet'"