Wikileaks: “Basha attacked by colleagues”

“Basha’s defense has been further complicated by infighting within his Democratic Party, with Basha’s opponents within the party reluctant to come to his defense in hopes that his legal woes will eliminate him as a potential political rival”, the cable says.

“Basha has not been accused of outright corruption. Instead, he has been charged with “abuse of office” and for violating ‘equal treatment in a tender process.’ while serving as Minister of Transportation – negligence which allegedly resulted in vast cost overruns totaling nearly 600 million euros”, the cable continues.

The third part of the cable titled “Democratic Party Rivals Smell Blood” says:

“Basha’s legal troubles have been complicated by his precarious position within the Democratic Party, with political rivals such as Speaker of Parliament Josephina  Topalli looking on with barely-disguised glee. Other PD officials such as Prime Minister Berisha have offered only lukewarm defenses of Basha, while still using the claim that the charges against Basha are politically motivated to further attack the Prosecutor General,” the cable adds.

For the interior war in the DP and the hope that the Prosecution accusations will be successful for eliminating Basha from politics, the US Embassy quotes in this cable Arben Cici, the diplomatic adviser of President Topi, who has declared that:

“Basha has little to worry about from opposition parties – it’s his own DP that is out to get Basha.”

The cables says that Basha himself echoed this in a nearly hysterical phone call to the DCM in November, claiming that leaks to the media alleging ties between Basha’s family and shady Bosnian businessman Damir Fazlic were coming from his political rivals within the DP.

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