By Albert Rakipi
As the Prime Minister was giving a speech in parliament during the early hours of July 22, before the consensual enactment of the justice reform, Ilir Meta exited the chambers. His departure was taken by many as a public “boycott,” a reflection – as some argued – of his indignation towards “clear attempts to erode both his own and the LSI’s legitimacy by failing to acknowledge or consider LSI’s position with respect to the justice reform.” Ilir Meta’s “exit” saw many analysts hurriedly concluding that what occurred was in fact an exit from a dysfunctional coalition, a public refusal to accept the PM’s divisive statements.
Although given the dysfunctionality of the SP-LSI affair such an interpretation may at first sight seem accurate, the circumstances surrounding the Parliament Speaker’s political statement demand careful consideration.
Ilir Meta’s resolve to ensure the consensual enactment of the justice reform, taken together with the aftermath of the continuous negotiations between parties may suggest that his “boycott” was in fact a public refusal to engage in conflictual politics, divisive policies and political tensions that continue to mar Albanian politics since the fall of communism.
But if one may only take an educated guess in stating that this political statement represented a “silent protest” directed at conflictual politics, a factual analysis of the situation on the other hand, may lead to the predicament of a fundamental change in Albanian political culture which functions by way of conflict and hostility. If so, such change represents the end of 25 years of political transition — a time when decision making was always dependent on the international community and agreement is reached only after deep political crises solved with the help of great powers.
The head of parliament has awoken the hope of a new way of making politics; consensus and cooperation instead of conflict and divisiveness between political parties which has caused great damage to the development of the country for more than two decades. Indeed, lack of cooperation has from time to time brought the state on the brink of destruction. Almost all parliamentary elections during the past quarter of a century have been contested by the opposition. In 1997, the political state of affairs resembled that of an ungoverned territory. The 1997 crisis, by far the darkest political episode after the fall of communism, was only overcome by a political agreement whose success was due to the intervention of the international community. Political conflict and disagreements have been a permanent feature during the pre and post-election periods, which have been characterized by continuous boycotting of the electoral process, parliament and attempts to invalidate election results. In 2009, the SP staged a spectacular boycott by entering into a hunger strike in front of the Prime Minister’s office.
The process through which the justice reform was enacted only represents the latest case of conflictual politics, mistrust between political parties and extreme intervention by the international community. Formally, democracy is the only game in town, but in substance it is a conflictual “zero-sum” game: The winner may form their own administration, appoint judges, prosecutors, doctors, diplomats and professors. This is the political history of the Albania’s transition: a heavy heritage left by 25 years of animosity and distrust. Devising a new system of making politics based on agreement and consensus seems something that is too good to be true, but a step has been taken in this direction: Whilst parties found themselves in deep disagreement regarding constitutional amendments leading to the justice reform, Ilir Meta proposed that multilateral agreement is a necessary prerequisite to the enactment of the justice reform. Any politician who devotes himself to changing the system would be considered a visionary and true statesman by the Albanian people. However, a most pressing question remains: In addition to being a king-maker, is Ilir Meta intent on becoming a change-maker?
