The Perils of Consensus

By Jerina Zaloshnja
It appears that the Government and the Opposition are heading rapidly towards a full consensus so they can carry out radical changes to the nature of the electoral system as well as other problems that are linked with the administration of the electoral processes in Albania.
Irrespective of the opposition put up by the smaller allies, it is obvious that the DP which is in office, and the SP which is the main party of the Opposition, are determined to push the constitutional amendments to the Electoral Code and electoral institutions through Parliament.
Parallel to these constitutional changes, the Government and Opposition also seek to bring other constitutional changes into fruition related to the procedures to elect the President of the Republic, or the mandate the President should have.
However, a full consensus is yet to be reached between the Government and the Opposition regarding the procedures to elect the President. It does appear that the two main parties are ready to leave the election of the President up to Parliament but even by a simple majority vote of the Parliament. According to current legislation the President of Albania is elected by Parliament with a four fifths majority of the votes and if Parliament fails to elect a President with a four fifths majority vote, then the country goes to early parliamentary elections; not only in theory, but there is a real danger that the country could slide into an endless cycle of elections if the new Parliament also fails to elect a new President. From this viewpoint, the constitutional amendments to procedures for the election of the President of the Republic are indispensable and constructive. Conversely, the proposals tabled so far on the procedures to elect the President appear to marginalize the role and powers the current President has. For example, the proposal for the President of the Republic to be elected by a simple majority of votes in Parliament will, “minimize the role and the powers of the President,” claim local experts. Moreover, apart from the procedures to elect the President, the Government and Opposition are searching for a consensus to curtail the competences which the Head of State has at present. The proposals made do in fact weaken the role the President plays and strengthen the role and powers of the Prime Minister. According to the top leaders of the Democratic Party, the role the President plays should be merely honorary. This is the first ever legislative attempt,-amendment of the Constitution- designed to diminish the role and power of the President. There have been frequent attempts by the two main parties to curtail the role of the President; we have seen how the Prime Minister or the Speaker of Parliament try to limit the space the President should have on the country’s political scene. During the last presidential elections, the contest for the post of President was degraded by the DP and SP. With the exception of the candidature of Mr. Bamir Topi, all the other candidates proposed by the two main political parties verged on the ridiculous. Now, it seems that the two main parties are striving, in essence, to eliminate a focal point of power, as is the post of the Head of State via the proposals they are making on the procedures of election and on the powers the Head of State should have. The diminishing of the role and power of the President, which, in short means the de facto elimination of an important institution, could have seriously negative consequences to a democracy in Albania.
Furthermore, there are very few voices of dissent and it certainly looks as thought the government and the opposition are resolved to find that consensus on the constitutional amendments on the election and competences of the President. Too much love, too much consensus between the Big Two; We have gone from one extremity to the other; if there has been any common denominator in Albanian politics during the entire period of the transition this has been a total absence of consensus and harsh, often unprincipled battle.