Consensus of the Big Two and the fight for the Left

It appears that for the first time the two main political parties in Albania, the Democratic Party in office and the Socialist Party in the Opposition are heading towards a consensus without the influence of the International Community. This is a rare occurrence in Albanian politics where the lack of a consensus and cooperation has been the essential feature in Albanian politics throughout the entire period of the transition. The importance of this consensual spirit increases if we bear in mind the fact that the Big Two are heading towards an agreement on such a fundamental question as the electoral reform. The Albanian political parties and especially the two major parties are responsible for the distortion of the political process. These parties have kept alive a dozen ghost parties on the political scene and there is more.. With the distortion in the implementation of the system and the electoral legislation, the two bigger parties are also responsible for the fact that especially over the last four-five years individuals have been made MPs with nothing at all in common with the parties who supported them, politics or even society; moreover there have also been “overnight millionaires” made MPs, in some cases even the so called ” the strongman” With this flagrant misuse of the electoral legislation or system, the political process in Albania was heading towards destruction. It appears that there is still time and the consensus between the two main parties to carry out a serious electoral reform could mark a real turning point in Albanian politics. The proposals of the SP and DP to reform the electoral system do not have the aim of wiping out the smaller parties, as many of the leaders of these parties are complaining about, whose membership are extended family and friends or a very narrow circles of citizens. The proposals of the government and of the Opposition are designed to regulate [political representation in the Parliament, which has been distorted so much over these last few years. If the two main parties are to continue to be united in this reform, then it is quite possible that the political process could be brought back to normalcy, at least as far as political representation and elections are concerned, as the instrument that legitimizes power. There is no doubt that behind the consensus of the Big Two there may be certain political interests, but this is inevitable. The question stands: how long will this consensus between the Big Two endure? Taking into consideration the political developments within the left wing camp, in particular, conflicting relations between the SP headed by Edi Rama and the SMI led by Ilir Meta, it appears to be quite possible that the Left in Albania will run in the parliamentary elections next summer divided. In this manner it seems that the SP and SMI will run on their own. Its still too early to assess the quotas of the SP and the SI, but if they do run their candidates separately, the chances of the current government to remain in power for another mandate shoot up. The battle for office in 2009 will be between the DP the SP and the SMI. This split in the Left is of course very favorable for the DP Nonetheless, the level of the chances of the DP becoming the favorite due to a split of the Left depends a great deal on the electoral system. For example, with today’s electoral system, corrected majoritarian, if the SMI and the SP run separately in the 2009 elections, the chances of the DP doing another term in government are extraordinary. In 2005 elections the Left, from the independent contention of several smaller parties of the Left alone lost at least seven seats in parliament, without counting here the losses they incurred due to the SMI candidates who ran against both DP and SP candidates. Although too early to make predictions, the question is that in the circumstances when the SP and SMI are seeing eye to eye less frequently, could the DP, in office be interested in a regional proportional system which could soften the negative effects for the Left and when there is every chance of the Left going to the elections split down the middle? Everything is hypothetical. The battle for the Left has just started. In fact it is a battle for the leadership of the Left. The Motto “Divide and Rule,” typical for Balkan politics, is present in current Albanian politics.