Lulzim Basha

Name	Lulzim Basha
Office	Mayor of Tirana
Term start	June 2011
Term end	Incubment
Office2	Minister of the Interior
Primeminister2	Sali Berisha
Term start2	2009
Term end2	2011
Predecessor3	Bujar Nishani
Successor3	Bujar Nishani
Office3	Foreign Minister of Albania
Primeminister3	Sali Berisha
Term start3	2007
Term end3	2009
Predecessor3	Besnik Mustafaj
Successor3	Ilir Meta
Office4	Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications
Primeminister4	Sali Berisha
Term start4	2005
Term end4	2007
Birth date	June 12, 1974
Birth place	Tirana, Albania
Party	Democratic Party of Albania
Alma mater	Utrecht University
Residence	Tirana
Signature	Lulzim Basha Signature.svg

Lulzim Xhelal Basha (; born Tirana, 12 June 1974) is an Albanian politician.

In 2005, Basha was appointed Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications in the government of Sali Berisha where he served for two years. Then, during the period 2007-2009, Basha served as Minister of Foreign Affairs and later in the period 2009-2011 Basha served as Minister of Interior.

In 2011, Democratic Party of Albania selected Lulzim Basha to run against the leader of the opposition in Tirana's mayoral race, as representative of Coalition of the Citizen.

Early career

Lulzim Basha was born in Tirana in a family originating from Drenica (today Kosovo). After attending the Sami Frashëri High School, he studied law at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and worked for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1998–1999). While working there, he contributed to the file against former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic. He later worked for the Department of Justice of the UN administration of Kosovo, UNMIK (2000–2005), before entering politics in Albania.

Political career

Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications (2005–2007)

Basha joined the Democratic Party of Albania in January 2005 and became a member of the party's Presidency in May of that year. He served as party's Spokeman during the 2005 parliamentary elections at which he was elected to the Albanian Parliament.

After the 2005 parliamentary elections, Lulzim Basha became Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications where he served for a period of two years, until he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2007. As Minister of Public Works, Transport and Telecommunications Basha initiated the major infrastructural work, Durres-Kukes Highway, in the Albanian history, involving the contruction of 5.6 km tunnel. In 2007 the Chief Prosecutor of Albania Theodhori Sollaku asked the parliament to lift Basha's immunity from prosecution so he could begin an investigation into possible corruption and abuse of power charges. This was in regard to the awarding of Durres-Kukes highway construction contract to a U.S.-Turkish joint venture. Basha said that the charges were politically motivated and the Parliament refused to lift his immunity.

Foreign Minister (2007–2009)

Basha served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 25 April 2007 when he replaced Besnik Mustafaj until his appointment as Minister of Interior in 2009. During his term, Albania was admitted in the NATO and achieved EU visa liberalisation.

Interior Minister (2009)

In 2009 Basha was nominated as Minister of Interior of Berisha's government. As Minister of Interior, he implemented all the required criteria for Visa Liberalization. Later, the opposition criticised him for the behaviour of the police during the clashes with protesters in a anti-government rally in front of the Government building in Tirana on 21 January 2011; though video evidence did show that the police acted appropriately. The U.S. Embassy, the OSCE presence and the EU delegation in Albania issued a joint statement considering the opposition's anti-government rally as not peaceful.

Candidate - Mayor of Tirana (2011)

In 2011, Basha ran for the post of mayor of Tirana for the Democratic Party and the Coalition of the Citizen, challenging Edi Rama, incumbent mayor and leader of the Socialist Party of Albania. After a long process of votes counting, Rama was first declared winner by the tight margin of 10 votes. Basha was finally declared the winner with 81 votes after the election commission decided to consider as valid and therefore count those ballot papers that were cast in the wrong ballot box (there was also a ballot box for choosing municipality council and leaders of mini-municipalities) . The focus of Albanian politics on the elections together with the dispute and minor instability caused by the exceptionally close result are thought to be the reasons that led to The EU Commission president José Manuel Barroso cancelling his visit to Tirana.On 20 May 2011 Albania's most celebrated writer Ismail Kadaré asked Mr Basha to withdraw his candidacy to avoid the "collapse" and "isolation" of Albania. Mr Basha responded to the letter by arguing that it would be undemocratic for him to withdraw from the race and that the relevant institutions of the country should be allowed to decide the disputed result.

References

External links

Lulzim Basha Homepage

Mr. Lulzim Basha – 2011's Elections campaign official Page on Facebook

Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Democratic Party (Albania) politicians Category:Members of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania Category:Foreign ministers of Albania Category:Mayors of Tirana