TIRANA, April 12 – President Bujar Nishani has vetoed the recently-passed diplomatic service law, saying that it politicized the service and eroded presidential powers.
The law had been prepared by the foreign ministry and removes professional quotas in nominations.
Presidential vetoes in Albania are largely symbolic, as the head of state has the constitutional power to veto laws and send them back to parliament for review, however, he can do so only once and the parliament can simply re-approve the laws without any changes.
This is the latest in a series of vetoes. The president and the government, in power since September 2013, have been in continuous open frictions for the passing of the laws, as well as the nomination of the top diplomats and other officials.
Presidents under Albania’s constitution are supposed to be politically neutral, but in practice most have been elected by the parties in power at the time of their election and have largely leaned in favor of the political force that elected them.
On the other side, the parliament, now dominated by the Socialists, has rejected several presidential nominees for supreme court judges.
Such a friction, however, often delays laws and the required reforms the country needs
