TIRANA, May 4 – Hopes for a solution to the crisis are fading as Albania’s political leaders continue to talk but have failed to reach a deal in negotiations under the mediation of outgoing President Bujar Nishani.
President Bujar Nishani whose term ends in July, urged Prime Minister Edi Rama and chairman of Democratic Party Lulzim Basha to break the deadlock that puts the country’s stability and EU future at risk.
However, the two left the presidency building without reaching a deal. They later told supporters the offers on the table were not close enough to reach an agreement.
Rama had offered a deputy prime minister and deputy ministers to be proposed by the Democrats to monitor the election, an offer Basha said was even lower that what had been offered earlier under international mediation.
Both sides came out of the meeting going back to their earlier positions: The Socialists are looking forward to run in the next elections without the opposition’s participation, while the Democrats have called for civil disobedience and protest rallies, starting with the by-elections in Kavaja this Sunday.
The opposition says only a caretaker government that is not headed by Rama can guarantee free and fair elections they say are under threat from drug profits and organized crime. Despite a lot of international pressure, the Democrats have decided not to participate in the elections since Rama has refused to resign.
The president’s call was a last ditch effort to reach an agreement before a registration deadline with the Central Elections Commission expired.
“The President is concerned about the political crisis and calls on Prime Minister and opposition leader to sit in the table of discussions with the will for compromise and overcome this difficult time for the country,” a press release issued by Nishani’s office read.
Prime Minister Rama was the first to accept the invitation for talks. He took to social media and said he was “equally concerned about the crisis,” which according to him is “a crisis of the Democratic Party.” Rama said that Nishani’s call for dialogue was delayed, however he was ready to sit and talk with Basha.
The opposition leader whose party has been boycotting parliament and refused to register for the upcoming elections, announced a parliamentary group meeting and urgent talks with the European Commissioner for Enlargement Johannes Hahn in an attempt to find a solution that would enable the right wing parties to participate in the June 18 polls.
A press statement issued by the Democratic Party welcomed Nishani’s call for dialogue and underlined that Rama was the real cause of the crisis and that the right wing parties have always opted for real dialogue.
“If any foreigner or national leader calls on me to bargain with Edi Rama for the sake of stability without democracy, he should understand that what came to life on Feb. 18 is larger than the Democrats, larger than the opposition and larger than Albania,” Basha said in his address to party supporters.
He was referring to an ongoing protest the Democrats have been holding in a tent in front of the prime minister’s office.
This is the latest attempt to solve the political deadlock in Albania following failed efforts by the two European envoys David McAllister and Knut Fleckenstein. The two MEPs tabled a platform of compromise to parties, but Basha insisted on a caretaker government which according to him would guarantee free and fair elections.
The opposition has called for the resignation of Rama since Feb. 18 and threatened to launch a civil disobedience in the western town of Kavaja on May 7, as its citizens vote for a new mayor.
Albania is an EU candidate but its hopes for accession talks are hampered by the failure to implement judicial reform.
