Opposition insists, recount of votes or resignation from government

TIRANA, Jan. 25 – The opposition Socialist party is insisting that the government of the Democratic Party and Prime Minister Sali Berisha should agree to recount part of the June 28, 2009 votes or it should resign.
Opposition leader Edi Rama also referred to protests as their means of achieving such a goal.
Speaking at a talk show last week Rama hailed the Council of Europe draft report on the country’s politics. Two Council of Europe reporters asked the government to create an investigative committee on the votes and also the opposition to return to parliament.
The opposition Socialists have been boycotting the new parliament claiming they need to recount a considerable number of ballot boxes, which they say have been ‘deformed’.
At the same time the Socialists have said they will not ask for a remapping of the parliament if the vote count shows it different.
Governing Democrats say, for their part, they do agree on creating an investigative committee but that does not mean recounting the votes.
So, again in a status quo where both political groupings stick to their ideals, Albania suffers.
The Council of Europe also urged the country’s president to initiate a role of mediator in such a political crisis.
They also urged the international community to play that role, something which is really more likely in this ever-squabbling politics.
The opposition started a series of protests last year and has pledged to do the same this year.
But recent flooding in northwestern Albania postponed their plans. They had said the protests would resume in mid-January.
Rama said that they will never stop the popular protests which he considered as a democratic tool.
He said that, “Ʒe shall follow the road protests until we win our right, like in every other country where, upon the fall of democracy, freedom remains to the opposition.”
Such words immediately turned into a hot political fight.
The governing Democrats and their allies came out to say that Rama is not that strong to threaten with force only through his words.
Ilir Meta of the small Socialist Movement for Integration, which is a governing coalition partner, and the main one to Berisha, turned down any idea of a compromise that would harm the constitution.
There have also been voices stating talks have started on handing the posts of president, supreme and other courts, the prosecutor general and other top posts to the opposition in exchange for their ending the parliament boycott.
Nothing has been confirmed from any of the interested sides.
Meta said that they were not against, “Ƴetting up a parliamentary inquiry commission for the June 28th general elections … to inquiry everything, eventually for all claims raised by the opposition which do not threat the Constitution and the independence of the courts.”
He considered it regretful the lack of seriousness in the opposition statements.
Meta also denounced Rama’s alleged words on forcefully overthrowing the government together with ballot boxes which he considered alarming and demonstrating the degradation of the opposition politics.
Such accusations and counter-claims will very likely continue for a long time.
It is no surpruise that the opposition will again resort to street protests, espcially boosted from their last big one in the captal Tirana last November.
But experience has shown these democratic tools usually give no direct effect if not accompanied with other means.
The parliament for the moment is functioning well, though not in its ‘top form.’ That means they may pass many laws buit not ‘big’ ones which require three-fifth of the votes in the 140-seat parliament.
The Demcorats and their allies for the moment have 75 seats in the parlaiment. The opposition and their ally have 65 seats (their ally, the Human Rights Union Party is taking part in parliamentary sessions).
Albania is preparing thousands of answers to the questionnaire offered by Brussels along its request for candidate status. At the same time Tirana and every Albanian is waiting for the European Union to give the go ahead in July for the visa-free regime.
The poltiical fight may well be a big burden to that process.
If not, another alternative that many would consider very democratic would be to declare snap elections after Brussels told Tirana that Albanians are free to move to Schengen area coutnries without needing a visa.
But until then, everybody is waiting for harsher political words, street protests, failed efforts from the local players and, very likely, an enforced process from ther international community.