Albanian Parties Hunt For MPs On Internet

Albania's main opposition Democratic Party, PD, and Libra, a new party established by the former Socialist MP Ben Blushi, are turning to the internet to help them select the MPs that will run on their lists for the June 18 general elections.

PD spokeswoman Ina Zhupa told BIRN that in the first days of this online process the response had been very high.

"The names will go to consultation with party representatives in the respective regions. We will also vet the names related to their past and moral integrity," she said.

After the two main parties, the Socialist Party, PS, and the Democrats changed the constitution in 2008 to give political parties and coalitions exclusive rights to compose the lists of MPs in the regional proportional system, opposition parties see the need for more popular involvement in the process.

The Democratic Party leader, Lulzim Basha, announced the initiative on January 17 during a meeting with the representatives of his party in the 12 electoral districts.

Basha said the process of selecting candidates will be more transparent than ever, and people's preferences as expressed through the internet would play a big role.

"We are going to give Albanians a list of MPs that is the most representative and qualitative ever," Basha said.

On the same day, the party presented on its internet page a form that invites all citizens to identify themselves first and then submit the names that they would like to see on their regional candidate lists by February 15.

However, the Libra party of Ben Blushi on Sunday accused the PD of stealing its idea about the online selection of MP candidates.

"The PD has offered as its own original idea a process that Libra presented to its members on January 6......