Tirana Times Staff
The Alliance for a European Albania, the Socialist-led coalition, won a resounding mandate a year ago. Albanian voters wanted change. They also wanted more jobs and better state services promised by the Socialists.
Three hundred days since the government led by Edi Rama was sworn into office, it gets a grade of incomplete. It has done some good work, but it has also stumbled at times.
An old Albanian saying goes: “A good day can be seen from morning.” As such, any government wants to hit the ground running. But this one had to put out some unpredictable fires. First off, it faced a major crime wave that started with the transition of power and intensified as the new government tried to change the top brass in the police forces.
Then it had to fill a fiscal whole left over from the economic crisis and the outgoing government – which like other governments in its position – invested heavily in last-moment infrastructure projects for electoral purposes.
The current government also came to power with promises to increase employment and improve quality of life, something the government says it has started to deliver on, while the opposition insists Albanians are worse off than they were a year ago. It’s too early to tell which one is correct as economic changes require time to manifest.
The private sector is increasing hiring as the economy improves, but we are concerned with the massive firings that have taken place among public sector employees. While party activists with no qualifications should not be in public administration positions that require quality employees, anecdotal evidence presented to this newspaper shows at least some of those fired from public posts were both qualified and apolitical – something that is worrisome. The fact that many of these former public workers are also winning court cases against their dismissals also supports that contention.
The government gets the best marks for one thing: the recent police intervention in Lazarat that ended years of lawlessness in the small enclave in southern Albania often referred to as “Europe’s marijuana capital” for its massive production of cannabis. It was a black mark on Albania and it has been lifted.
Under the current government, Albania was finally able to take the next step in its long path to European Union membership, as EU members states officially agreed to make Tirana an official candidate to join the bloc. The previous government contributed to the success and the the decision was welcomed by the entire political class in Albania. The current government did lobby well on Albania’s behalf, however, and it is to be congratulated for it. It should now work even harder and faster to open negotiations.
The new government pushed through its program for progressive taxation, which we believe will have a negative impact on attracting investors, however its process of settlement of debts to the business community will help the business climate as will the IMF loan of 334 million euros which gave the government finances some breathing room to implement its further reforms.
Another major achievement was the out-of-court settlement with CEZ over the botched privatization of the power distribution monopoly.
With these achievements and lessons learned under its belt, the government should no focus on its key challenges: fighting corruption and improving the lives of Albanians. It won’t be easy, but that’s the responsibility it sought when it went in front of voters last year to seek a governing mandate.
