ALBANIA: Albania's ruling Socialists look to be heading for a split, with the former Prime Minister Mr Ilir Meta saying he and loyalists would form a rival party to contest next year's elections.
Mr Meta (35), who was twice prime minister in 2000-02 but later lost the Socialist leadership to the Prime Minister, veteran Mr Fatos Nano, said he expected his new party to emerge as one of Albania's main political groups.
Some analysts say the new party will never be able to rival the mother party, as happened with groups that split from the opposition Democrats. Others say it stands a good chance of becoming a strong alternative.
Albania's gdp has grown by 5-6 per cent annually in recent years, but it remains one of Europe's poorest countries with double-digit unemployment.
Western envoys have urged Tirana to step up the fight against corruption and crime in order to speed up talks on an EU association and stabilisation agreement which started last year.
Mr Meta said his party would inject new dynamism into politics and end the long dominance of two "worn-out" blocs from the left and right after the fall of communism in 1990.
"We aim to end this 14-year situation of two rigid blocs that have not only exhausted themselves but produced personal vendettas, not politics," he said.