TIRANA, Aug. 9 – One month after taking over as President of Albania, Bujar Nishani, a former senior official of the ruling Democrats, has decreed the dismissal of Bahri Shaqiri as head of Albania’s intelligence service (SHISH) and appointed Visho Ajazi Lika, a deputy Innovation and IT minister, as a proposal by Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The replacement was confirmed on Thursday in a short announcement by the President’s press office.
“The President of Republic, Bujar Nishani, based upon Article, letter “f”, on Article 93 of the Constitution and also Article 5, paragraph 2 of the amended Law number 8391, dated October 28th, 1998 “On the National Intelligence Service”, through the proposal of the Prime Minister, decreed today the discharge of Mr. Bahri Shaqiri from the position of State Intelligence Director and the appointment of Mr. Visho Ajaz Lika as the new Director of SIS,” said the President’s office.
Shaqiri, who had held the post since 2005, was known for his frozen relations with Prime Minister Sali Berisha who had earlier warned his dismissal but did not have the support of former President Bamir Topi and that of theinternational community.
Relations between the Prime Minister and Shaqiri became fiercer after the Jan. 21, 2011 anti-government rally where 4 protesters were shot dead. The Prime Minister had accused former President Bamir Topi, Prosecutor General Ina Rama and top spy Shaqiri of being involved in a coup d’굡t.
Graduated in mathematics, Lika served as a director in the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1997 when Sali Berisha was the country’s President. Since December 2009, he has been a deputy minister of Innovation and ICT.
“The President replaced the head of the Intelligence Service with a servant of the Prime Minister, the same as he himself is. What a shame. This decision is the most exemplary act of his dependency on the Prime Minister and will bring negative consequences in the political and institutional life,” wrote opposition leader Edi Rama on his Twitter profile.
Newly founded right-wing parties, the Red and Black Alliance and the New Democratic Spirit described Shaqiri’s dismissal as a political appointment taking Albania away from NATO and EU standards.
New HCJ deputy chair elected
Earlier this week, Albania’s High Council of Justice elected Elvis Cefa as deputy chairman, after he had been nominated by President Bujar Nishani. Cefa was a member of the High Council of Justice, appointed by the Parliament with the backing of the ruling majority of Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The post had been vacant since February, when former deputy chairman Kreshnik Spahiu resigned in order to pursue a political career with the nationalist movement, the Red and Black Alliance. The council is Albania’s most important judicial body as it supervises first instance and appeals court judges.
The deputy chairman is the administrative head of the High Council of Justice, which is chaired by the president.
