Tirana Times Editorial
Tirana, May 5 – The undeclared presidential election campaign is in full gear in Albania. And it’s important to point out that despite constitutional amendments made in 2008, which made it possible for the president to be elected with a simple majority of 71 votes in parliament, consensus is still necessary, indispensable and part of the spirit of the law. After all, the parliament is not electing or appointing any other official — but the head of state.
As such, in any normal, liberal democracy, there should be two or three names on the table who naturally fit the bill be president as they have wide support among citizens. These would be two or three unifying figures who the society at large sees as natural fits to be president.
Unfortunately, there is a legacy of political conflict in Albania. This is present in how the president is selected, but it is particularly the case when it comes to a deformed relationship between the holder of the presidency office and the executive. That’s because the government in Albania has always tried to control the institution of the presidency.
However, based on the Constitution of Albania, the President of the Republic is one of the centers of power and has a particularly important role in balancing the other powers.
With that in mind, the basic problems in front of political elites today are:
First, do the political parties, particularly the ruling Democratic Party, have the will to elect as president someone who is governed by his/her ideas or do they just want to elect a puppet through which they can control all the other independent institutions?
Second, the political elite faces a symbolic time in Albania’s history. It will choose the head of state in a solemn year as 2012 marks the one hundred year anniversary of the country’s independence. Will its actions signify moving the country forward, or will it offer more of the same conflict and regress?
Third, it appears the international community will have a say in the choosing the president. Despite the culture of dependence from the international community, which here because of present circumstances, perhaps some influence from the international community could be useful. However, international representatives should be cautious with how their actions are perceived by the Albanian public.
Some of the things we have seen so far are likely to create more confusion than help. For example, former Prime Minister Fatos Nano has been self-nominated as one of the candidates. The idea of self-nomination to the post is not serious to begin with, keeping in mind that the president is not directly elected by the people but by parliament. Nano’s popular support is dismal at best. He was decisively voted out of office by Albanian voters in 2005, and is seen by many as a divisive figure of the old guard. What makes Nano’s efforts more ridiculous are his public meetings with members of parliament, party chairs, and ambassadors — mobilizing an army of subservient journalists asking questions of whether Nano would be a good president? This newspaper for one, doesn’t think so.
Moreover, when we speak of confusion in the international community representatives in Albania, we are keeping in mind the example of Nano meeting with the U.S. ambassador in Tirana, following which the American diplomat spoke in very positive tone, saying Nano is a statesman and a very serious presidential candidate.
Does this mean the U.S. government supports this candidate? And if it doesn’t, as we know the U.S. always supports a proper process not an individual candidate, the ambassador should not lose sight of the perception such meetings and words create in the Albanian public at large. Sometimes, diplomatic politeness can go too far.
