Lulzim Basha

Lulzim Basha (2016)

Lulzim Xhelal Basha (  [ lulzim ˈbaʃa ] ; born June 12, 1974 in Tirana ) is an Albanian politician and since 2013 chairman of the Democratic Party of Albania (PD) . Between 2011 and 2015 he was also mayor of Tirana.

Origin and background

Lulzim Basha was born to the mechanic Xhelal and the teacher Remzije Basha. He first attended the Skënder Çaci primary school in northeast Tirana and then transferred to the Sami Frashëri high school . At that time, Basha was also a player at Dinamo volleyball club . He graduated from high school in 1992, when the dictatorial state system in Albania had just been overthrown and a new era began for the country.

With a one-year scholarship, he began to study law at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands in 1993 . In order to continue his law studies, he earned money as a financial advisor in private companies.

After his time in Utrecht, he worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague . During this time he was involved in drafting the indictment against the former President of Serbia , Slobodan Milošević . He stayed in Kosovo for three years to gather evidence . He then worked there between 2000 and 2005 at the United Nations and helped set up the Kosovar Ministry of Justice.

Beginnings in the Democratic Party

In January 2005 Basha became a member of the Democratic Party of Albania and in May 2005 a member of the party presidium. During the election campaign for the 2005 parliamentary elections, he played a key role as party spokesman in the party's success and was also elected member of the Kuvendi i Shqipërisë in the elections on July 3, 2005 .

After the elections, Prime Minister Sali Berisha made Basha Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications in his first cabinet . During his tenure as Minister of Transport, Basha and the government had some successes. So he opened new roads, highways and ports that are of great importance to the country.

On May 2, 2007 he was appointed Foreign Minister to succeed Besnik Mustafaj and represented Albania together with Prime Minister Sali Berisha at the NATO meeting in Bucharest , where the country officially received the invitation to join, which was carried out a year later.

Basha was Foreign Minister until the next general election in June 2009, after which he was appointed Minister of the Interior in Sali Berisha's second cabinet on September 9, 2009.

Mayor of Tirana and election of party chairman

Lulzim Basha in March 2014

In the spring of 2011, he resigned his post to Bujar Nishani , as he was running for mayor of Tirana in the local elections in May 2011 . As a candidate for the Democrats in the capital, he ran against the long-time mayor Edi Rama ( PS ). The end result meant an extremely narrow victory for Basha with 81 votes ahead of incumbent Edi Rama. Basha replaced Edi Rama, who had been in power in the city administration since 2000.

In the parliamentary elections in 2013, the Democrats under Berisha were clearly defeated by the socialists , who had been opposition until then and who have since been the prime minister of the Albanian government with their party leader Edi Rama . After the election, Sali Berisha announced his resignation as head of government and party.

On July 23, 2013, Lulzim Basha was elected by PD party members as the new chairman. He prevailed against Sokol Olldashi , who also ran for election.

In the local elections in June 2015 , Basha no longer ran as a candidate for mayor of Tirana. The socialists clearly won, and Erion Veliaj succeeded Basha in August.

Private

Lulzim Basha has been married to Aurela Basha since 2004. In 2006 the two parents of Dafina, in 2011 the second daughter Viktoria was born.

Web links

Commons : Lulzim Basha  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Official website of the Bashkia of Tirana
• Short biography on rulers.org
• Albanian Ministries

Individual evidence

1. ^ Gertrude Lothian: Albanian PM Presents New Cabinet. Balkan Insight , September 10, 2009, accessed September 29, 2009 . 
2. ↑ Lulzim Basha hap fushatën për bashkinë e Tiranës. In: Shekulli . February 28, 2011, Retrieved September 25, 2012 (Albanian). 
3. ↑ Associated Press: Albania's prime minister reshuffles ministers ahead of key local election. (No longer available online.) April 20, 2011, formerly in the original ; accessed on September 25, 2012 (English).  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
4. ↑ Basha zgjidhet kryetar i PD-së (Basha is elected chairman of the PD). In: Top Channel . July 23, 2013, Retrieved September 5, 2013 (Albanian). 
5. ↑ Kryetari. Partia Demokratike e Shqipërisë, accessed on May 5, 2016 (Albanian). 
6. ↑ Erald Kapri: Gëzim në familjen Basha, Aurela lind vajzën e dytë. Panorama, July 15, 2011, accessed May 5, 2016 (Albanian).