Government reshuffle?!

TIRANA, Nov. 1 – Two allies of the ruling Democratic Party coalition asked Wednesday for a government reshuffle and more posts in the executive department. The Christian Democrats of Nard Ndokaj and the Human Rights Union Party of Vangjel Dule, both part of the governing coalition headed by Prime Minister Sali Berisha, said Wednesday that Environment Minister Lufter Xhuveli of the Agrarian Environmental party should be removed from the post, also mentioning a conflict of interest with his job as a private company of his family processes second-hand vehicle tires. “It is out of any political logic that electoral subjects represented only with one parliamentarian have ministers in the government while the Christian Democrats with eight deputies are out of the cabinet. Such a situation testifies to a low level of political seriousness,” said Ndokaj. One of Xhuveli’s parliamentarians joined the Christian Democrats last week and the other will very likely follow suit. That means that Xhuveli remains the only one from his party at the parliament. The New Democratic Party of Genc Pollo also has only one MP and it has a government minister. Ndokaj has said, on the other side, that his party will soon have ten or more MPs. Ndokaj said that his party contributed votes to the majority in the parliament but that would not last long. Leonard Solis, secretary-general of the HRUP, said also that the government was in a crisis and openly said that the Christian Democrats have to be present in the government. Solis said that the level of representation in the government of some political forces is unacceptable.
Democrats immediately reacted but carefully. Prec Zogaj acknowledged the fact of the need for a government reshuffle but said that it should be made after the forthcoming local elections, so that the political forces were respectively represented in the government. “Now local elections are getting near and we should strengthen ourselves around the existing government,” he said. Gazmend Oketa, spokesman of the Democratic Party and also a parliamentarian, said that his party was always open to wide coalitions with all the rightist political forces. Oketa said that negotiations had already started, even with non-parliamentary political forces, adding there is time for such talks until the president sets the election date. Not everyone among the Democrats was of that opinion. Bujar Nishani, head of the parliamentary group, said that a government reshuffle was out of the question along with inclusion of the Christian Democrats into the executive, according to Panorama newspaper. But Nikolle Lesi, former leader of the Christian Democrats, said the reshuffle should be made before elections and his party deserves two government posts. Lesi has been insisting on a government post since after the polls last year.
Whatever the results of such negotiations, it is becoming clear that a government reshuffle will soon be made either before or after the local elections, and very likely Xhuveli will not remain a minister.
The governing coalition includes the Democratic party, Republican Party, New Democratic party, Agrarian Environmental Party, HRUP, Christian Democratic Party and Liberal Democratic party but not all of them are represented by their own ministers in the government.