By Jerina Zaloshnja
The election of the President of the Republic via a process of consensus or an aksham pazar* ?
Will the country have early elections, or will the Assembly manage to elect a new President? If the Assembly manages to come up with a solution without provoking early elections, will this be a last minute solution, or a normal agreement between the Government and the Opposition?
Nothing 100 per cent certain can be said about which one of the two scenarios could happen, but perhaps the less possible is the option of early elections.
It is common knowledge that none of the political parties in Albania can secure there fifths of the seats in the Assembly which would allow them to chose their own President. This is not all. Early elections would be a test of the failure and of the very low level of the functioning of politics in Albania. But, whilst the option of early elections is futile and damaging, there is no other serious incentive of the political parties to reach a solution.
The political blocs in Albania appear to resemble two armies, which, claiming they have their adversaries trapped in encirclement, in fact have encircled themselves, themselves. And although both parties realize that as regards the issue of the President of the Republic they are both within the confines of encirclement, they continue to fire against their adversaries and there is no serious incentive to steer things in the direction of an agreement. Bamir Topi, candidate proclaimed by the Government, declared this week that he was determined to run for the post of President. Mr. Topi, declared as the candidate proposed by the Democratic Party, appealed to the other parties in the governing coalition to declare that he was the candidate of the governing coalition as well and not just of the DP. Meanwhile the Opposition contests his candidature and calls for the opening of a process of talks that would produce a new President. But instead of heading towards talks between the government and the opposition, during last week, the entire focus of the political debate in the country boiled down to the question that if the Assembly failed to elect the President, who will be the Head of State after 24 July, when the mandate of the current President expires?
In 2002, the then socialist government and the opposition represented by the Democratic Party reached a last minute agreement.
Prime Minister Nano and the Chairman of the DP Sali Berisha headed towards a settlement, an agreement, which, apart from the election of the current President, attempted the opening of a new a new period of dialogue and consensus between the government and opposition. However, this part of the agreement fell through. Instead of peace, dialogue and consensus, the now, typical Albanian conflicts and squabbles continued. Now, five years on, could a major agreement be concluded between the two sides to enable a return to a road of consensus and dialogue?
The participants are the same as those of yesterday and today. Mr. Nano has been replaced by Mr. Edi Rama, but, once again, between PM Berisha and Opposition Leader Rama, there is no dialogue, apart from the public criticism they send each other via the press and television.
Last, but not the least, even if no serious and major agreement is concluded that would end the conflict as a political instrument, perhaps it would not be very dignified if the President were elected according to the aksham Pazar variant anyway.
The aksham Pazar maybe fine to pick up a good offer for remaining cucumbers or melons on the market. Simply because it is late in the day, the cucumbers and melons are no longer fresh and the merchant wants to shut up shop and go home and is not all that worried about what he can make from a last minute offer.
The election of a President is an exceptionally important moment and certainly most solemn. And there is so little time left to avoid electing a President as if we were seeking a deal for cheap fruit or vegetables at the aksham Pazar. And the key to avoiding this situation lies in talks, serious negotiations and in a consensus, the only key that will allow the parties to break out of their encirclement.
* Aksham- evening, twilight; Pazar: Bazzar, Markertplace. Aksham Pazar means the evening market. In this case the meaning is “a last minute deal.”
