After a bitter fight, countless vitriolic accusations and heated debates the government has finally succeeded in its effort to remove the Attorney General, Mr Theodhori Sollaku. On Monday following a vote on the report of the second and very controversial parliamentary commission investigating the activities of Mr. Sollaku the leader of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group proudly declared that the ruling coalition had finally persevered and the reign of ‘evil’ had come to an end. The opposition was up in arms and even some MPs from the ruling coalition had objections, but as it often happens in struggles between ‘good and evil’ in this case too as far as the government is concerned, the end seems to have justified the means.
As a rule Albania’s Attorney Generals have not had an easy life, and Mr. Sollaku is no exception. Roughly one year after the failure of the first parliamentary commission and the first attempt to sack him, the Democratic Party duly set up a second commission whose aim it was to find the grounds for the Attorney’s dismissal, apparently at all costs. Little did it matter that the object of the investigation of the first commission was found to have been unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court as well as by the then President Alfred Moisiu, who drew upon himself the ire of the Democratic Party for his refusal to sign the dismissal of Mr. Sollaku. This time round with a new president from the ranks of the Democratic Party, the government deemed the time ripe for another try so they went ahead regardless of the objections from the opposition. Once the commission – as expected – found the Attorney at fault all that remains to be done is the mere formality of the president giving the dismissal his blessing.
Allegations of improprieties and of the commission being unconstitutional abounded this time around too, but this is not the place to discuss the Constitution. What can be said however is that it seemed highly suspicious that a commission which faced the gargantuan task of investigating hundreds of cases of alleged malpractice and the countless allegations that the Democratic Party had levelled at the Attorney through the years needed only three days to come up with a 40 page report which according to the commission made it clear as daylight that the Attorney was guilty as charged. And this in a country that to put it lightly is not well known for the efficiency of its institutions and where most court cases and investigations as a rule drag on for years. (The fact that the Commission was made up of people from all walks of life, but no lawyers, and the fact that there were no representatives from the opposition at all in it may go some way towards explaining the speedy conclusion of the deliberations. The request for the Foreign Minister’s immunity on the part of Attorney General may provide an additional explanation for the urgency of the proceedings.)
Nevertheless such ethical and constitutional trivialities hardly concerned the Prime Minister after the vote. With a big smirk on his face he teased and ranted at the opposition, happy as happy can be at having finally assured the dismissal of Mr. Sollaku. In fact given the history between the Prime Minister and the Attorney General it is somewhat puzzling why the Prime Minister made the dismissal of Mr. Sollaku his mission in life. Mr. Sollaku after all used to be Mr. Berisha’s adviser during his tenure as President and when in opposition the Prime Minister voted in favour of Mr. Sollaku’s appointment. Rumour has it that the enmity started when the Attorney refused to investigate the Mayor of Tirana Edi Rama, for allegations of corruption upon the recommendation of a parliamentary commission dominated by Mr. Berisha’s party. However, this being Albania one must be careful when drawing conclusions based on rumours, so the real reasons for the hostility will in all likelihood never be known. What is clear however is that Mr. Berisha is not a forgiving type of politician so once he came to power the Attorney’s days were numbered.
It must be said that in itself the dismissal of Mr. Sollaku is not a big tragedy. The Attorney General alone among all state officials enjoys an unlimited mandate and that does not give the person occupying that post a big incentive to be effective. Mr. Sollaku has held his post for years and the results have not been very good. Furthermore Mr. Sollaku has certainly been way too soft in dealing with allegations of corruption against politicians, whether from the left or from the right. Only when he got wind of the second parliamentary commission did Mr. Sollaku decide to call for the Foreign Minister’s immunity; a move that given its timing was perceived by many as an attempt to pressure the government off his back. What leaves a sour taste in the mouth of many, however, is not so much that Mr. Sollaku is being sacked, but the way in which this is being done.
The opposition after all did offer Mr. Berisha their cooperation in removing Mr. Sollaku as long as that happened in a consensual manner and within the framework of the reform in the justice system; a reform which among other things was supposed to limit the mandate of the Attorney. The fact that Mr. Berisha preferred to go at it alone, just because he could, does indeed give cause for concern, because Mr. Sollaku – just as the former president Mr. Alfred Moisiu – was appointed in a consensual manner. Many had hoped that this would mark the start of a tradition of consensus and cooperation between the government and the opposition, which Albania urgently needs in order to implement the reforms that will hopefully take the country into NATO and the EU. Unfortunately that tradition seems to have been very short lived. The controversial election of the new president over the summer was anything but consensual and the sacking of the Attorney General may very well give that tradition the final deathblow.
There is however still a slim hope that the dismissal of Mr. Sollaku will not serve as a casus belli and that consensus will be restored if the opposition is granted the right to propose the new Attorney. It was Mr. Berisha himself who first made that proposal, in an effort to secure the support of the opposition. (Worryingly, he seemed to backtrack on his offer in the aftermath of the vote.) The appointment of the new Attorney, for which the President’s signature is needed, would also give the new president his best chance yet to show that he is an impartial figure and not simply the Democratic Party’s man in the Presidency. Given the not so fond memories the opposition has from the time when President Berisha controlled the Attorney General, such a move would go a long way towards assuaging the oppositions fears. Indeed it is an imperative if Albania’s political life is to find stability. Another positive development that may yet come out of Mr. Sollaku’s dismissal concerns the government itself. For years now they have claimed that Mr. Sollaku was sabotaging their efforts aimed at fighting corruption and organized crime – or used him as a fig leaf as the opposition claims. With Mr. Sollaku gone, the government will not enjoy such an alibi any longer and will be forced to bear responsibility for eventual failures in the fight against corruption and organized crime. So now it remains to be seen whether the end was really worth the means.
The author is Director of Resarch at the
Albanian Institute International Studies
