Albania’s new president, Bujar Nishani, faces an uphill battle convincing the opposition and the skeptical public that he will be a head of state for all Albanians. But how Mr. Nishani will fulfill his duties depends as much on a prime minister with history of meddling as it does on the new president.
TIRANA, July 26 – As Bujar Nishani, Albania’s new head of state, took office July 24, the pomp and circumstance of the day seemed somewhat muted compared to the transfer of presidential powers in the two previous administrations. The transfer ceremony was smaller and moved to the presidency offices downtown instead of the splendor of the formal royal palace in the outskirts of Tirana נwhere the two previous ceremonies had taken place. It had rained that day too נperhaps a reflection of the cloudy mood left behind by the ruling majority’s unilateral and surprise selection as head of state of Mr. Nishani, a former minister of interior and a Democratic Party activist.
Mr. Nishani, who as Albania’s head of state for the next five years is bound by the constitution to “represents the unity of the people,” now faces an uphill battle convincing the opposition and a large part of the Albanian public that remains skeptic about his ability to fulfill his duties as head a state in the presence of a prime minister and former boss known for his desire to meddle in the powers of the presidency and other independent institutions.
Whether Mr. Nishani will be a president in the full meaning of the word will depend largely on the Albanian society and its institutions נthe government and the opposition. But much also depends largely on one man נPrime Minister Sali Berisha.
Able to chart own course?
Regardless of pressure from outside his office, as other presidents before him, Mr. Nishani plays a big role in determining his legacy as head of state. And, in a speech to parliament following his swearing ceremony, he said he would faithfully follow the spirit of the constitution.
“I want to confirm my full will and readiness to work with the majority government and the political opposition,” Mr. Nishani told parliament. “The Institution of the President of the Republic, in respect of the will of the people and in obedience to the spirit of the constitution, will have its doors open during the next five years for the majority נas well as the opposition.”
Mr. Nishani, like the rest of the country, knows he faces a big test in his relationship with the opposition. His election in parliament was legal and constitutional, but it did not have the support of the opposition. His ascension into the office of head of state came essentially was done without the large societal consensus Albanians have come to expect in their presidents. The parliamentary majority unilaterally chose Mr. Nishani at the last minute with no public discussion.
And, regardless of Mr. Nishani’s intentions, whether he will be allowed to fully serve as head of state will depend on whether Mr. Berisha is willing to stop meddling in the powers of the president and leave his former employee to the the job parliament elected him to do. Based on Mr. Berisha’s prior history of interference, that is unlikely.
Opposition pays for past sins, looks to future
Mr. Nishani’s unilateral election was based on constitutional changes agreed upon in 2008 by the opposition leader, Edi Rama, who, believing that he would win the 2009 parliamentary elections engaged in a short-sighted zero sum game, and agreed to join Mr. Berisha in changing the constitution overnight to make it easier for the party in power to elect a non-consensual president.
It is clear the new president will not have the support of the opposition נat least not in the immediate term. Opposition leader Edi Rama has called Mr. Nishani “a notary public” for the ruling coalition.
“It is unbelievable that a minister turns into a president … at this historic delicate moment,” Mr. Rama said following Mr. Nishani’s election, adding the new president “totally represents the Democratic Party” and his non-consensual selection would hurt Albania’s EU prospects.
Nonetheless, Mr. Rama attended the ceremony for the presidential power transfer and congratulated Mr. Nishani in person, indicating the opposition is willing to work with the new president.
History, as in the case of the last two presidents, has shown President Nishani can earn some support from the opposition by holding balanced positions required by the post of head of state נhowever, it is unknown whether opposition support will materialize in the future because much will depend on Mr. Nishani’s actions as head of state.
Any support from the opposition will depend on whether the president will be able to demonstrate that he is the president of all Albanians, including the opposition and its supporters.
But it will also depend on the opposition itself, which in many cases has proven to be unable to build a clear and constructive policy when it comes to achieving consensus to move the country forward.
In the past seven years of the rule of center-right Prime Minister Sali Berisha, the main opposition Socialist Party has had a huge percentage of the members of parliament, 66 countries out 140 נone of the largest such percentages in Europe for oppositions. Yet, only in a few cases has it proven able to use its power.
Wining over a skeptical public
Having very few executive powers and bound by an oath of national unity, polls over the years have shown that the Institution of the President of the Republic is often more popular among Albanians than the real seat of power נthe Prime Minister’s Office. However, due to the way he was elected and his previous activities in the Democratic Party, Mr. Nishani starts his work at the office of the head of state facing some bias by a part of the Albanian society, some society groups and parts of the media. Gaining support among this skeptical public will primarily depend first and foremost on Mr. Nishani himself, analysts note.
“In any country with a democratic society the person appointed president נregardless whether this is done by the people directly or the parliament נcannot be a last minute surprise as was the case with Mr. Nishani,” Tirana Times’ editorial board notes in this week’s editorial, reflecting the mood in civil society circles. “Every country with a democratic society has three or four people who have the stature and the support of the vast majority of the public to become president. In Albania, Mr. Nishani was not one of these people. Instead, Mr. Nishani was an public employee in the service of the government.”
Mr. Nishani, 45, a graduate of the Tirana Military College served as a low-level Defense Ministry employee at the start of his career, becoming a Democratic Party activist in the late 1990s, and rising to the posts of interior and justice minister under the administration of Prime Minister Sali Berisha. He is widely seen as a moderate figure in the Democratic Party and had not been accused in any public scandals involving corruption as so many of the other government ministers have.
However, because of Mr. Nishani’s government posts and last minute selection, a large part of the Albanian society is skeptical and is likely to adopt a wait-and-see attitude regarding Mr. Nishani as head of state, analysts note.
The only hope for those wanting the office of the head of state to function as it was intended is that Mr. Nishani stops Mr. Berisha and anyone else from intruding into presidential powers and charts his own balanced course.
