It’s no secret that Albania’s prime minister and president don’t get along – and that animosity has been translated into two years of conflict that has ranged from serious to petty issues. This negative relationship is unhealthy for this country, however, and must change.
In Albania’s parliamentary republic, the president holds the role of head of state, with very limited powers that reach out into all the other branches of government, the judiciary, the legislative and the executive in that order.
Designed to be a unifying apolitical figure under the constitution, the role has been filled for most of its history with non-consensual political appointees. Because of this, but not solely, there has been a long history of disagreements between prime ministers and presidents since the two institutions took their current form under the 1998 constitution, which was later amended to take away more powers from the head of state.
The trend has always been the same, regardless of whether the Democrats or the Socialists have been in power — the only good president in the eyes for the prime minister is the one that rubber stamps whatever the government wants. Most presidents have resisted this, however, hence the regular disagreements.
But the relations between two men currently in office, Prime Minister Edi Rama and President Bujar Nishani have been particularly bad.
Mr. Nishani, a former high official in the Democratic Party, became head of state without the consent of the Socialists then in political opposition. Though his election in parliament was legal and constitutional, the parliamentary Democratic-led majority unilaterally chose him as head of state, to a degree harming the reputation of the office which must be non-political and consensual, as mandated by the constitution.
However, one must respect the institution, not just the man holding it, and the lack of respect Mr. Rama shows for the office of the president on a regular basis does leave a bad taste for the politically independent.
The prime minister has said publicly he does not care much about Mr. Nishani, seeing him as a simple extension of the opposition Democratic Party rather than as a head of state. As soon as Mr. Rama came to office, he proceeded to change the protocol rules to removed the president’s photos from all public buildings, substituting it with that of Ismail Qemal Vlora, modern Albania’s founding father.
It was a clear message to Mr. Nishani, and the relationship has gone downhill from there.
The disagreements have varied from petty issues to serious ones. The president was banned this month from vacationing at the official state beach residence, for example, supposedly on the prime minister’s orders. (There is no official confirmation on this, but that’s the way the local media have interpreted it.)
But the more serious issues have involved the blocking and delaying by the president of candidates for ambassador proposed by the ruling majority. Also the president regularly vetoes major pieces of legislation which have delayed Socialist-sponsored reforms, as was the case with the tourism law this week.
Because the presidential vetoes in Albania are mostly symbolic if there is a parliamentary majority in place, the Socialists routinely overwrite them without any reflection or review, completely ignoring often sound legal arguments by the president’s legal advisers.
There is also a drive to take even the very few powers the president has left and give them to the prime minister – on issues such as defense, diplomacy and justice.
There clearly needs to be more debate about stripping more powers from the president, because the checks and balances are there for a reason, and they need to be there for future presidents and prime ministers as well.
The bottom line is that the current negative climate between the prime minister and the president — both at the institutional and personal level — is not good for Albania and the functioning of the state. And since Mr. Rama and Mr. Nishani are holding office to serve the people of Albania, they should make a greater effort to have constructive relations.
Written by Andi Balla, aballa@tiranatimes.com
