The problem is that Berisha has left his own people in despair; everyone except Rama

Most of the criticism of Berisha’s re-election focused on the fact that he was running alone, after even the most symbolic challengers had been kept out of the race.

He had clearly thought that through. By allowing no one else to run, he pushed the debate over his re-election onto the “democratic rules” of the race and its formal appearance.

But the Democratic Party has almost never had a real leadership race in its 35 years of existence. The only serious attempt was the contest between Sokol Olldashi and Lulzim Basha, and even that was damaged by Berisha’s intervention, when he pressured Olldashi’s supporters. Still, at least that was a race.

All the others, including Basha’s contests, may have had formal candidates, but they were not real races. So there is little point, after 36 years, in mourning the fact that the DP has no real contest for leader. In that party, there has always been one leader.

The real problem with this election is not the absence of a rival to Berisha.

The real problem is Berisha himself.

There have been other moments in the DP’s history when Berisha effectively ran alone. But then, people still had hope in him. Inside the DP, no one has ever really respected internal competition as an institution. Everyone has long accepted that the party has no rules that apply to Berisha. Just remember the “Basha article” in the statute, the one that should prevent Berisha from running again, and that debate ends there.

The real problem is that Berisha’s re-election depresses everyone inside the DP, including those who genuinely support him.

At this point, ask any Democrat privately whether they are happy to have Berisha as leader again, and they will be ready to curse him and his entire household. But they can do nothing about it.

That is the great despair Berisha feels around him. You can see it even on Flamur Noka’s face, and it is not always easy for thoughts or emotions to get through there.

That is why Berisha tried to steer the debate toward the missing rival. He knows no one inside the DP is truly upset about that. What upsets them is the dark future they see with him.

That is also why the first thing he said after his re-election was that it had “left Edi Rama sleepless.” In truth, that line says more about his own conscience than about Rama. The people truly left sleepless by his re-election are the Democrats themselves, because they know they have no future.

Berisha has a long tradition of winning elections, with or without a race, by clean means or dirty ones. That has never mattered much to him. At different moments, what mattered was the result the election produced.

And the result of this re-election is despair among Democrats.

That is Berisha’s real defeat.

His re-election is the most counterproductive thing the DP, and Berisha himself, have done in 36 years of politics. It has crushed everyone who still hoped the Democratic Party might one day return to power.

Despair is the product of defeat, not victory.

Sali Berisha and the Democratic Party have suffered a deep loss through his re-election.

Berisha has left all his own people in despair.

Everyone except Rama.

Originally published in Albanian as: Problemi është se Berisha i ka dëshpëruar të gjithë të vetët, përveç Ramës