Democratic Party of Albania Appoints Lobbying Aid

Mon., May 1, 2017
By Jon Gingerich
  
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Albania’s contentious June parliamentary elections have continued to result in more stateside lobbying contracts, with conservative political group the Democratic Party of Albania retaining lobbying firm Barnes & Thornburg LLP for government relations counsel as part of that group’s ongoing quest to draw international attention to the need for free and fair elections in that Mediterranean country.

Democratic Party of Albania
The right-of-center DPA, which was formerly Albania’s leading political party, has long charged that opposition party, the Socialist Party of Albania, is attempting to rig the voting process for that country’s upcoming elections, claims which have now led to protests and even a parliamentary boycott.

Left-leaning Socialist Party of Albania, which has held power in that country since its 2013 parliamentary defeat of the DPA, itself hired lobbying counsel in April, Florida-based lobbying shop Ballard Partners, in a $20,000-per-month lobbying pact to assist the party in its communications with the U.S. government.

Indianapolis-based Barnes & Thornburg will aid the DPA with communication strategies and will arrange meetings and establish relationships with U.S. executive branch officials and members of Congress in a bid to gain public support for free and fair parliamentary elections in Albania.

The DPA last year hired D.C.-based public affairs giant Podesta Group to counsel the party on relevant U.S. policies and Congressional activities as well as arrange meetings with government officials in a bid to strengthen U.S.-Albania bilateral relations.

Barnes & Thornburg’s engagement, which runs for a period of three months and ends in July, brings Barnes & Thornburg a fixed fee of $150,000.