The Presidential Race – Making the Failure

By Jerina Zaloshnja
The Parliament will convene in its sitting scheduled for Tuesday 20 July, 2007 to conduct Round One of the election of the President of the Republic.
In the mandate of a parliament and of its law makers, this should be the most solemn of sittings. The Constitution foresees that the election of the President takes place without a parliamentary debate. However, this sitting is not going to be a solemn affair nor will it elect a new President.
The Opposition of the Left and Centre Left has declared that it will not be present at the sitting for the election of the President in the absence of a consensus with the Government. In these circumstances then, there can be no mention of solemnity or seriousness.
The Government, which has introduced its candidate, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group Bamir Topi, says that the President will be elected on the basis of the Constitution. From the perspective of the Constitution, it appears absolutely normal that the candidate of the Government, on the one hand, and candidates put forward by other parties, on the other hand, compete to secure the 84 votes required to win the election. However, the Opposition proposes a political agreement, not merely for the reason that the Ruling Majority, led by the Democratic Party, does not have the required number of votes to elect the President itself. The invitation,say the Opposition leaders, is to build a consensus on a number of fundamental reforms. In the absence of this agreement, the Opposition will not be present in the Assembly. In brief, there will be no election for a President. As if going to a party, the Government and the Opposition head towards making a failure happen. Both sides have laid the grounds for this failure. 20 July will mark failure No.1. Unfortunately, the way things are being pushed towards the making of this failure, does not bode well for the success of the other rounds of voting for the new President. The Constitution foresees another four rounds, and if after these five rounds there is still no success in electing a President, then the country faces early elections, in which it is mathematically guaranteed that neither of the parties can secure 84 of the 140 votes. Everyone believes that this is the most unlikely of scenarios because neither of the bigger parties wants early general elections. However, although neither of the political sides may want early elections, they could still happen. They could happen merely as the result of an error. Wars have happened accidentally, let alone early elections.
Ending up on the threshold of early elections, without any particular will, would be the second way to fail. And anyway, what would be the relevance of failing to elect a President either deliberately or due to discord and misunderstandings? But the achievement of failure could also happen in another manner. The Government and the Opposition may elect a President in the most accidental manner possible. For example, both sides could reach a consensus on a candidate, who, not even in their wildest dreams had imagined being elected Head of State, Head of our tiny Republic. For, no matter how small it is, a Republic should remain a Republic, don’t you think?
Failure could be achieved simply via a last minute agreement.
Failure could be achieved via the most constitutional of ways possible.
As the end of the game draws nearer, the candidates increase in numbers. Apart from Bamir Topi the Government’s candidate, there is Fatos Nano former Prime Minister who is working hard to collect the 20 signatures required to be a candidate. But the former Prime Minister, Nano, does not enjoy the support of any of the Opposition parties, beginning with the Socialist Party. Former PM Nano claims he has an ace up his sleeve and that is the pledged support of the Chairman of the Democratic Party and the Prime Minister, Berisha.
Local analysts say, however that Nano’s election as President is precisely what Dr. Berisha will not support. And the list of candidates continues; alongside Sabri Godo and Paskal Milo, another list of names of individuals outside of politics, including pensioners, is in circulation.
Recently, in one of the most popular of local television programs, the most grotesque of candidates appeared; a poet, a musician, an athlete and a military officer all rolled into one. The ways to fail in our Republic are many, and, frequently quite ludicrous.