With no one left to blame at home, the international community might be next.
Tirana Times
Stefan Fule, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy, told European institutions last week Albania is stuck in a political crisis. It is something Albanians have known for a while, but the length and depth of the political crisis in this small country in the European mainland are baffling EU officials like Fule, who say stopping the downward spiral is vital for Albania’s future and its EU prospects.
It won’t be easy. In Albania, the most fundamental institution of representative democracy, the parliament, hardly functions. All Albanians see coming out of it is hate, physical violence and vulgar language. There is so much distrust between the two main political parties, all the important legislative processes have halted.
It is a game of chicken that is causing a lot of damage to the country.
The current crisis started almost two years ago when the opposition challenged the results of the elections, claimed irregularities and asked for transparency. But the story also relates to the weak majority of Prime Minister Sali Berisha even with the contested results. He had problems from the start when he failed to create a minimal majority himself and had to rely on a coalition with the leftist LSI, a party that had campaigned to its voters on the promise that they would make sure Mr. Berisha would retire after 20 years at the helm of the Democratic Party, and for much of that time also ruling the country. In becoming kingmaker, LSI’s three seats in parliament have given the party disproportionate power in ministerial portfolios and perks, taking a good percentage of appointments and jobs at all levels.
The government has been further weakened by a series of corruption scandals ranging from the deputy prime minister being caught on tape allegedly pushing infrastructure tenders for a price to the tragic explosion at Gerdec.
And although the corruption has been so public, no high-level officials has been punished so far. It is sad to see the former defense minister, accused of practices that helped kill 24 people and wound 300 others at Gerdec, keep the minister of environment position. It is even more ironic to see how he got away from the charges. The minister says he is ready to leave his parliamentary immunity to be investigated. But when prosecutors showed up, he hid behind the same immunity. And the matter was quietly put to rest.
Now the country is still recovering from the tragic events of Jan. 21, when four protesters were killed by troops protecting the prime minister’s office. The protesters were unarmed and outside the gates of the building when they were killed, but the government claims the Guard of the Republic was defending the prime minister’s office from a coup d’굡t and thus the response was justified.
Since then, the political tension in the country continues to be high and there seems to be no willingness among the political leaders to turn the country into a normal political life.
In about two months, on May 8, Albania is scheduled to hold local elections for which the opposition is doing nothing to prepare. While it says it is not boycotting the elections, the opposition is essentially not participating in the elections’ preparation which amounts to a boycott.
The opposition wants early general elections instead to resolve the crisis. It is the only solution it says it will accept. For the prime minister, that is out of the question. He wants to run his mandate until 2013.
Although over the 20 years of transition Albania has faced several serious crisis, the worst in 1997, the country has never had something as long and as politically paralyzing as what is currently going on.
And unlike in other crisis, the international community – meaning Brussels and Washington — has preferred to have an encouraging role for Albanians to solve their own problems. It is after all a much more advanced society now, two decades after communism, and NATO member country.
It is clear the international community is not willing to mediate a solution. Albanian political parties are even less interested.
The opposition has even begun to shift its rhetoric to criticize the international community. The head of the opposition, Edi Rama, says in NATO countries, government forces don’t open fire on protesters, and the “regime,” as he calls the Albanian government, needs to be punished.
Media outlets close to the opposition have also begun to openly criticize representatives of the international community, especially the new U.S. ambassador.
It’s indicative of a new and dangerous trend. Albanians have completely lost faith in their political leaders’ ability to reach a solution. With no one left to blame at home, the international community might be next.
