Mediu’s post sparks anger

TIRANA, Sep 9 – Fatmir Mediu of the Republican Party is to become the new Environment minister in Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s new cabinet.
That was agreed to and signed in a bilateral deal between the two leaders of their respective political parties.
Mediu is, at the same time, a lawmaker in the new parliament, who was mandated Tuesday.
These points have sparked a loud cry in Albania, and not only from the political parties, including the opposition.
At the moment some other things should be said of Mediu. The former defense minister is also on trial accused of breach of duty, something that may result in some years of prison if found guilty. Fatmir Mediu was charged with breach of duty, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. The breach of duty charges stemmed mainly from the decision to allow a military factory to operate near populated areas and to use military resources to transport the munitions there.
He is among 28 defendants, including the former army chief of staff and officials and managers of a private company that handled munitions disposal. Four have also been charged with murder. All have denied wrongdoing.
Mediu is the only one whose case was separated and will be dealt with at the Supreme Court. The others were moved to the Tirana district court.
Unfortunately, families of the victims were not allowed to be part of the trial, something they have loudly requested for over a year now.
The charge is linked with a series of explosions at a munitions depot that killed 26 people last year.
The explosions that ripped through the disposal factory outside Tirana on March 15, 2008, left 26 people dead and 302 injured. The blasts also damaged 5,500 houses.
Mediu resigned in the wake of the disaster, prompting calls at the time from opposition parties for conservative Prime Minister Sali Berisha to resign.
Mediu is the leader of the Republican Party, part of the previous governing coalition.
Opposition Socialists claim the governing Democrats have tried to hinder an impartial investigation by exerting pressure on Albania’s judiciary. They have also accused Prime Minister Berisha’s government of corruption regarding the disposal of obsolete weapons.
About 100,000 tons of excess ammunition, mostly Russian and Chinese artillery shells made in the 1960s or earlier, are stored in old army depots across formerly communist Albania.
There were voices during the campaign asking how and why Mediu could run again for a post in parliament.
But those did not seem strong enough or sufficient to stop him from getting enough votes and secure a post in the new parliament. He was also favored with the fact that the elections were based on a new regional proportional system, which meant it was enough for him if his party won enough votes in one region he could be a new parliamentarian. That proved well in the Tirana prefecture where he secured the required number of votes and got a post in the parliament.
At the same time, strange enough but true, Gerdec, the commune which was mostly hit from the blast last year, voted for the governing Democratic Party. That was a great relief for the Democrats and Berisha and also a clear sign to the opposition Socialists they had not done well.
Following these events everyone was asking whether Berisha would agree for Mediu to be in the new cabinet again. Everyone knew that Democrats and Republicans have been very close during all the years of post-communist Albania. But having Mediu in the cabinet might likely seem inappropriate for Berisha, moreover so for Ilir Meta of the leftist Socialists Movement for Integration that has created a coalition and has four posts in the new cabinet.
Mediu has a new mandate and may be part of the new parliament. But lawyers say that he has no immunity, which was lifted last year. Thus the trial may well go normally.
Would Berisha like to have one of his ministers on trial?
What does it really mean to Mediu to be in the new cabinet? Why is Berisha ‘obliged’ or why does he want Mediu in the new cabinet?
The answer to these questions will naturally come with time but people may also listen to the criticism that the opposition has made to the links between the two persons and their alleged incrimination into an abuse of public money.
There have also been behind-the-scene voices that the international community has made it clear to Berisha they would not like to see Mediu in the new cabinet.
What really turns such a clear legal case into a political issue is the moment, the opposition, its claims on vote rigging and the whole social environment in the country.
Opposition Socialist Party leader Edi Rama said that Berisha was to be ashamed for accepting Mediu in the new cabinet, at a time when he is still on trial.
But a group of journalists were probably the real voice of the people in their petition published Wednesday.
“Mr. Mediu’s presence in the Berisha cabinet represents a grave moral and political problem,” their published letter said.
They expressed their concern on Mediu’s presence in the new cabinet while he is still on trial, though, they said, he is still innocent until the court gives the verdict. “The Albanian judiciary is investigating and judging on the responsibility of the former defense minister.”
They said that until the trial is over Mediu should stay out of the cabinet, “the possible minimum that the Albanian society be calm and understand it is dealing with a responsible government with a sense of normal morals.”
“Keeping Mediu out of the cabinet, Sali Berisha would demonstrate a political and public responsibility to that event in accordance with his public commitment to go to the end of that tragedy on the responsibility of everyone, whoever they could be,” said the petition.
The president could be another voice in that direction should he decide not to accept Mediu in the post after Berisha sends him the names of the new cabinet.
Albanians are also listening to Efraim Diveroli, the US dealer accused of buying ammunition in Albania for Afghanistan, who has acknowledged he was taking Chinese ammunition which was against the law. While he was cleared of scores of charges, he may now be sentenced to up to five years imprisonment for breaking that law.
That fact should be a clear sign to Albania’s politics, institutions and the people of what the rule of law means in a democratic country.