site.btaParty Conflict in the Alliance for Albanians Results in Separate Congresses Organized by Two Party Wings

The split in the Alliance for the Albanians party in the Republic of North Macedonia led to two separate congresses of the two wings in the party, and it is not yet clear what the outcome of this situation will be.

President Arben Taravari’s wing said that they were convening an extraordinary congress on Friday evening. The information was officially published on his Facebook profile by Halil Snopce, one of the two MPs who supported the idea of Taravari’s party to join the bloc of the Albanian opposition in North Macedonia.

The camp of the former chair of the party, who also presides over the Central Council of the Alliance for Albanians, Ziadin Sela, reacted immediately that there is no change in the previously planned congress for Sunday and that the proposal to release Arben Taravari from the chairmanship will be discussed.

There will be no change in the date and place of the congress on Sunday. Any other information beyond this is false and represents an attempt to deceive and defocus the members, North Macedonia's Justice Minister Krenar Loga, who stood behind Ziadin Sela, wrote on his Facebook page.

In interviews they gave during the week, Taravari and Sela said that each of them respectively represents the Alliance for Albanians, and according to analysts, the court will most likely have to decide which of the wings will "keep the seal" and the name of the party.

On Thursday, Taravari announced his candidacy for participation in the presidential elections, promoted by the Alliance for Albanians and supported by the opposition Albanian bloc.

According to analysts in North Macedonia, the role of the party in the upcoming elections is important because the opposition Albanian bloc together with the Alliance of Albanians could gain more deputies in the next parliament and shake the positions of the largest Democratic Union for Integration (DUI). Sela's wing, for its part, insisted that the party run independently in the elections.

"I have not allowed and will not allow external factors to control the party," said Sela in an interview with Klan TV, and argued that if the Alliance for Albanians runs alone in the elections, it does not mean that it will help DUI in any way.