Albania's Socialist Leader 'Eroding Party Democracy'

Rama, who has led the Socialist Party since 2005, has expressed his intention to partially remove the 'one member, one vote' selection principle for party officials.

Once seen as the man who would restore internal democracy in the party, Rama organised the first 'one member, one vote' election for chairman of a political party in Albania in 2007 - which he won himself, taking 97 per cent of members' votes to beat Shkelqim Meta.

He repeated the process in 2009, beating rival Maqo Lakrorin and winning 93 per cent of members' votes.

But on Sunday, in advance of the party's March 19 electoral congress, Fatmir Xhafaj, the chairman of commission for party statutory reform told journalists that the system would change.

He said that the 'one member, one vote' system would be only used in future when a prime minister who is also party leader loses general elections.

"In essence, the leader of Socialist Party will be elected according to this principle... but we have made a distinction in cases when the party is in power or in opposition," Xhafa said.

In all other situations, party officials will be chosen by the congress, not by the full membership.

It is still unknown if the changes will go into effect for this month's Socialist Party congress or at the next one.

The majority of Socialist MPs are believed to agree with Rama's plan.

Xhafaj, who is also a veteran socialist MP, argued that the changes will help the party better serve the public interest.

"We are making these changes to have a dynamic party...This new statute is a reflection on past experiences, the good ones as well the mistakes that we have made in the past," he said.

But Marko Bello, a former Socialist MP and a critic of Rama's style of...