Nishani refuses to sign into law changes that would further strip him of nominating powers.
TIRANA, May 6 – In a sign of escalation of the conflict between the country’s head of state and the government, President Bujar Nishani has refused to sign into a law changes to how the high audit inspectorate head is nominated.
The changes to the law remove the right of the president to nominate the head the institution in question and passes those powers to the prime minister.
Earlier, the governing Socialist-led coalition of Prime Minister Edi Rama removed the former head of the institution, Zana Xhuka, who was a nominee of the opposition Democratic Party of Tirana Mayor Lulzim Basha, where Nishani himself once served as a high official.
There is an open conflict between the president and the government, and this is the latest step in it. The president is also refusing to sign the appointments of several diplomats proposed by the government, and the government is also trying to strip the president of some of his power’s related to the military, where the head of state also serves and commander in chief, according the constitution.
Albania’s president has very limited powers, and parliament, where the Socialist-led government has three-fifth of the 140 seats, may override a presidential veto, according to the constitution, and laws can come to power without a presidential signature after the veto is overwritten.
The debate is part of the behind-the-scene political fight between the president who considers himself as independent and the government who considers him the remaining element of the opposition and its former leadership.
