In busy two weeks for priorities and nominations, new government and opposition head for major showdown as government postpones implementation of civil service law approved by consensus in May
TIRANA, Sept. 30 – A law on the country’s civil service has become the first major issue of debate between the new government and the opposition, as Prime Minister Edi Rama pushed forward a decision to delay its implementation for six month.
The law was passed with all-party consensus in urgency in late May aiming to show Brussels that the country’s political class was able to compromise on a major issue. The law was part of recommendations the European Union had made for Albania to push forward is membership bid in the body.
The new government said postponing implementation was necessary because the previous government had not compiled other regulations accompanying the law and which are needed for its implementation.
The move drew criticism from the main opposition Democratic Party. Its leader, Lulzim Basha, said the move amounted to killing consensus and it would endanger the country’s progress toward the European Union. He said the party would take the proper steps in the parliament and legal institutions – including sending the case to the Constitutional Court.
Civil service under political pressure
Albania is expecting to get EU candidate status this December and hoping to launch membership talks next year.
The matter of the civil service – the country’s bureaucracy נis sensitive in Albania, where every time there is a transfer of power thousands of civil servants have lost their jobs to be replaced by others with the right political connections. Each government says the employment practices aim to improve the quality of the civil service, but in reality many people are hired simply because of political affiliation, analysts say.
Socialist officials have said the previous government had employed many party activists without the proper qualification – so they must go. They also add that some 20,000 people with ties to the Socialist Movement for Integration were fired from their posts a few months ago after the party – then in a coalition with the Democrats נswitched sides to join the Socialists.
A return to the trenches
Following the elections and a transfer of power as well as a short-lived consensus over EU priorities, it appears the political actors have returned to their trenches.
The Democrats walked out of parliament on Thursday, for example, and ramped up the rhetoric.
“Rama has started his work, as expected, with provocations, arrogance, contempt for the law and constitution and with conflict with the opposition, but soon he will deal with conflict with Albanians,” Edi Paloka, the head of the Democrats’ in parliament, said before the walkout.
Government ministers have defended the decision to postpone the civil service law implementation and urged the opposition to cooperate.
“For this law to really work and be respected, we need to achieve political consensus between political forces,” said Ilirian Celibashi, a government minister. “There are all the opportunities to work together and find common language on this.”
Fight on corruption, organized crime to lead agenda
Beyond the debate over the civil service law, the new government has expressed several priorities in its first two weeks in office, some of which explained in a first question-and-answer session held over social media channels by Rama.
Answering people’s questions on Twitter, the prime minister promised to intensify the fight against corruption and reform the justice system. He said the government would file charges against all corrupt officials
The government recently set up a group of experts to launch a radical reform in the justice system, Rama announced.
The move comes as the Council of Europe said in a report released last week that the politicization of the Jan. 21, 2011 killing of then-opposition protesters in front of the prime minister’s office had negatively affected the independence of the judicial institutions. Four people were shot dead in a then-opposition Socialist Party protest against the government. There were only very mild sentences issued against two former National Guard officers, something that the victims’ families have harshly denounced as unfair.
Justice reform, fight against corruption, organized crime and the rule of law also seemed to remain as the country’s main challenges in a report of the Council of Europe.
Youthful nominations and canceling previous government decisions
As it officially started work, the government has recently made a series of decisions that include nominations to top state institutions, with young women and men assigned in key positions. The country’s new general director of taxes is a 29-year-old former junior bank official, for example, something that has sparked concern among certain circles of the business community and the political opposition.
Analysts say that unless these new top public officials rely on seasoned advisers, their inexperience risks having negative effects on the country’s governance.
Also, as promised, Rama’s government has voided a series of decisions of his predecessor, Sali Berisha, made after June 23 when the parliamentary elections were held, canceling a series of business contracts. Rama has also pledged to fightmonopolies.
“We shall reform the state structures and hit the corrupted persons,” he said.
The new premier repeated his commitment to take the country’s territory back under control and destroy all illegal construction countrywide.
The country’s economy is also being considered as very grave and the newauthorities are trying to find a way out of the situation. They complain that a lot of money is missing from the previous budget, mainly because of inadequate tax collection. They are also trying to get an international loan.
“The crisis of the economy is deep. We are getting ready for a radical intervention. We shall overcome it together,” said Rama in Twitter.
The government decisions came as Rama returned from his long trip to the United States where he took part at the United Nations’ annual session and held a series of meetings with international leaders. Rama made his first formal trip to Brussels to meet with all top EU and NATO officials.
