US Ambassador urges calm

TIRANA, Feb. 6 – United States Ambassador to Tirana Alexander Arvizu explicitly said that they did not support the idea of early elections in Albania.
In an interview with the Voice of America last Friday, after the opposition rallies, Arvizu openly said that coming to power through demonstrations, or street protests was not the proper way. That was directly linked to the opposition rallies asking for the government resignation and the holding of fresh elections claiming the lack of voters’ transparency, the manipulation of the counting in June 2009 and also based on the corruption cases involving cabinet members.
Arvizu also said that the tiny Balkan country was in its transition to the western democracy and that their problems remained with the implementation of the laws, not that democracy did not exist there.
Arvizu also said that Washington was not taking any side but “try the best for Albania.”
In the recent flare-up of the situation in the country he also insisted that Washington fully supported Prosecutor general Ina Rama and called on the political parties to let investigators free to do their job to find the persons to blame for the four deaths at the Jan. 21 deadly riot.
Following Tirana’s request Washington has brought a prosecutor and also two experts to probe the case.
He also expressed his support to the country’s president and also head of the secret intelligence police, all recently attacked from Prime Minister Sali Berisha as trying to be part of the putsch of the opposition Socialists.
“Albania is a NATO member and its political system should function and operate in line with that status,” he said.
Arvizu also said that the parliamentary investigative commission could be complementary but the real investigation should be conducted from prosecutor’s office.
He urged holding of good local elections May 8 and said it would be deplorable if the opposition would not take part.
“Democracies function only with reliable elections. That is the way how the elected representatives, governments are changed. They are not changed with street protests or demonstrations,” he said.
That was a direct criticism on opposition Socialists.
But their leader Edi Rama has said they do not expect the international community to back their request for early elections. On the other side, he has called on the world community to move the government.
Arvizu also recommended to the Albanian politicians to stay closer to the people, to their complaints and problems and not deal so much on how to organize demonstrations, hold news conference.
He urged Albanian politicians to try to resolve their dispute on their own and Washington and Brussels could only help them to facilitate the dialogue.
“Unlike the other countries in the world we don’t have here to do with two opposing ideologies on the country’s governing. No serious person in Albania is against but for Albania’s full integration into the European Union and the West, for the continuation of the close ties with the US. There does not exist any sectarian division in Albania. We have simply to do with personal politics,” he said.
Corruption, according to Arvizu, remained a top issue which not only the government and politics but all Albanians had to deal with.
He said that the government should do more. The opposition should be part of the overall actions to fight that and not boycott the institutions.
“Both sides speak of corruption but they should do more to fight that,” he said.
“Albania is not a failed state,” he said. “It is a functional democracy which has some problems and shortcomings on the implementation of the law.”