Presidential elections become top item of debate

TIRANA, March 14 – Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that the Democratic party would follow with a deep restructuring without giving much detail on that. But he went further at Monday’s press conference discussing on an interesting topic _ the debate question-answer on the forthcoming presidential election, though it is months ahead. Berisha repeated publicly that he supported Bamir Topi to run for the post of president as a personality with integrity and much popular. “Personally I do not know in the Albanian politics any politician more broadly accepted for the duty of president as Mr. Topi, a politician with many years of experience,” he said. Berisha went further to put in the table the possibility of the presidential direct election which, he said, would have no need to turn the country into a presidential republic like it has happened in other countries like Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Poland. There would be no need to increase president’s competencies, adding the existing ones are more than in the previously mentioned countries. Thus the country still remains a parliamentary republic.
Surprisingly, or not, Berisha turned into a loudspeaker of the opposition. If the opposition would like to elect the president’s by imposing itself, that cannot be accepted now, according to Berisha, when the majority enjoys 53.4 percent of the votes (from the local polls). “We do not want to push the country into early elections. But if they (opposition) think that for two votes they may impose the president, they should not think of any imposed thing, but only election,” he said.
Socialists came out with a proposal, a suggestion Wednesday. Socialist leader Edi Rama said at a party leadership meeting that they would ask for no early elections if the governing coalition would agree to reach a consensus on general reforms they specified in five spheres: electoral reform and identity cards, a new administrative map, better management of the territory especially of its environment, reform in the judiciary, reform on the decentralization and reforming the public administration. Majlinda Bregu of the Democrats came out hours after to openly say they did not trust Rama. That is a clear sign that both sides of the Albanian politics will continue to make offers and do nothing, continuing to lack the trust to each other and consequently affect the country’s general development and ties to the international institutions.