Berisha reshuffles cabinet

TIRANA, March 12 – Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha on Monday reshuffled his cabinet to give a boost to reforms needed for the country’s integration efforts into the international institutions. The reshuffle is less than a month after the local polls where Berisha lost the major cities but won in most of the rural areas. Berisha moved five ministers from his cabinet _ Gazmend Oketa replaces Deputy Prime Minister Ilir Rusmajli who moves to the Justice Ministry post instead of Aldo Bumci, Bujar Nishani replaces Sokol Olldashi who resigned from the Interior Ministry to run in the Feb. 18 local polls, Majlinda Bregu instead of Arenca Trashani at the European Integration Ministry and also takes the new post of the government spokeswoman, Ylli Pango replaces Bujar Leskaj for the Culture Ministry and Nard Ndoka instead of Maksim Cikuli as the health minister. Berisha also said that France has had as health minister a person who was not a doctor, a strange comparison with such a big and experienced country.
The new cabinet is to be decreed by the country’s president and then voted in parliament, where the Democrats hold the majority of the 140 seats. Berisha declared his coalition had 80 votes, enough for any decision which does not ask for three-fifth of the vote, as that of the president.
“New stages, new developments expect new obligations,” said Berisha, also thanking former ministers for their contribution. Berisha declined that the reshuffle was linked to the Feb. 18 local polls saying he had warned of a cabinet change since before the elections.
Berisha’s Democratic Party-led center-right ten-party coalition governs the country since September 2005 after winning in general elections to replace opposition Socialist-led coalition. Last month the country held local polls, which international observers considered as “a missed opportunity” because of shortcomings, where the governing Democrats lost the major cities and mainly won in rural areas. A joint statement of the U.S., EU and OSCE Tuesday criticized both political groupings for the Shijak elections and called on them to immediately start electoral reform now. Despite that Berisha repeated that as far as his government was concerned and linked the Feb.18 and Shijak elections were free and fair.
Albania expects to become a full NATO member next year and it has also signed a pre-membership deal with the European Union.