Threats by Christian Democrats testing strength of government coalition

TIRANA, May 7 – One of the parliamentarians of the governing Democratic Party declared his ‘independence’ as he accused his party of not assisting his northern city of Shkodra during the 20 months it has governed the country.
On the same day earlier this week, a governing ally, the Christian Democratic party, threatened to leave the coalition unless the ruling Democrats agreed to provide them additional posts in the executive. The Christian Democratic party has eight parliamentarians.
Such a defection would seriously undermine the governing coalition’s hopes of electing the next president. Currently the Democrats have 68 MPs, not enough to even create the required quorum in the 140-seat parliament.
However, the Christian Democratic threat came only from Nikolle Lesi, head of its parliamentary group. Leader of the Christian Democrats, Nard Ndoka, who is also part of the governing cabinet as the health minister, came out a day later saying his party should avoid emotional statements despite the disagreements with the ruling Democrats.
“Our responsibility is a great one and no doubt we shall try to resolve problems we have with the Democratic Party through negotiations. Christian Democrats are a tolerant party. We have waited for a long time for what we have achieved and we shall look for democratic forms for reaching a deal with the Democrats,” said Ndoka.
Many would say he speaks differently due to his government post. Others would say that Lesi would possibly look for a post for himself.
But despite their statements, and also those of Prime Minister Sali Berisha of the ruling Democrats, the disagreements are not serious enough to put the coalition in danger, even though political developments have made clear that the governing coalition has many internal problems.
The upcoming presidential election next month will be a barometer which indicates whether these disagreements would also threaten the government or even take the country to early general elections.