The last week, the government of Prime Minister Edi Rama has engaged on a broad propaganda campaign in the international media to cast the large-scale opposition protests in their own light.
Most notably, Prime Minister Edi Rama joined Bruno Vespa’s Italian talkshow Porta a Porta on Rai Uno, whereas Minister of State for Relations with the Parliament Elisa Spiropali appeared on Turkish program The Newsmakers of TRT World.
The talking points of Rama and Spiropali were obviously coordinated. Their first argument was that the opposition protests did not represent a protest of the people but a “palace revolt” of an opposition desperate to cling to power. This is a metaphor that is skewed in several ways: if with “palace” they mean the government, the opposition’s protests and departure from Parliament cannot be like a palace revolt, because they were not in the palace in the first place. If the metaphor is meant to include not only government, but symbolizes the much broader political–economical–criminal oligarchy that combines government with large scale drug trafficking and money-laundering through real estate projects, then perhaps this could indeed be seen as a palace revolt, but this also would amount to an admission that the rule of law in Albania has completely broken down and the opposition is right to protest. In fact, the Prosecution of Tirana recently started an investigation into Spiropali and her family for money laundering, while a previous Rama minister is currently in court for drug trafficking and corruption.
The second argument has been that the opposition is afraid of the justice reform and tries to sabotage it. In the last few weeks, I have not heard a single opposition leader speak out against the justice reform, which more or less is a fait accompli. All core institutions are being formed, while the vetting hobbles on. There is much to criticize about the implementation of the reform and its legal framework, but the opposition is certainly not leading the discussion. Instead, it has been the government that appears more afraid of the justice reform; recently the Socialist majority strengthened the immunity of Parliament, making it much more difficult for the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecution to investigate MPs. If anything, the opposition MPs have showed their trust in the justice reform by resigning from their parliamentary immunity.
Both Rama and Spiropali also played the EU card, stating that the EU supports the government, that the opposition protests reflect badly on Albania’s chances for the opening of accession negotiations in June, and that they play into the hand of Russia. It is true that the European Commission will back any government, as long as it implements the reforms they impose, no matter how misguided. It is also true that the opposition’s protests reflect badly on Albania’s chances, but, as I argued before, in the opposition’s judgment EU accession has become less important than bringing about a change in power. The Russia argument is a bit silly and doesn’t deserve much of a response. The government is simply naive to think that screaming “Russia,” as it has done in the past, will fool anyone.
Finally, then, is the argument that the 2017 elections, in which the Socialist Party gained an absolute majority, among what increasingly appears as widespread vote-buying practices, were certified by all national and international bodies and that resigning would imply ignoring the “will of the people.” First of all, in absence of any precise polling data, the “will of the people” is a concept with very little practical reality to it, but more importantly, in any other democracy governments fall and end their term prematurely all the time – and over scandals much smaller than the ones haunting the Socialist government. Furthermore, one could argue that Rama’s government already fell, since he replaced more than half of his ministers in December. Spiropali herself is one of the new arrivals, and it is difficult to argue that her appointment is in any way a reflection of the “will of the people.”
Whereas Rama faced little resistance from the other studio guests, such as ex-football player Igli Tare, and remained unchallenged on any of his talking points. Spiropali was in a more difficult setting, faced with Researcher at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and the Study of Art in Albania Jonida Gashi and Alba Cela, Head of the European programme at the Albanian Institute for International Studies.
Especially Gashi offered a concise analysis of the political situation squarely placing the blame of the political situation on the dynamic between both opposition and government and the electoral system, which has ended up concentrating political power in the party leaderships, while reducing the democratic involvement of Albanian citizens with their representatives. Her main argument was that any new elections, whether snap elections, the local elections planned for June, or any other future elections, will continue to recreate the same political conditions that led to the current crisis.
Only a thorough electoral reform could possibly lead to a healthier political system, less bound to the figure of the political leader and criminal money. Electoral reform is also one of the major requirements for the opening of EU accession negotiations, and as we have been reporting over the last year, nothing has come of it, in spite of the existence of a bipartisan parliamentary committee and very clear points formulated in the recent OSCE-ODIHR reports. This reform can only be ratified in Parliament with a qualified majority, which is currently impossible.
Neither the opposition’s demand for a transitional government and snap elections nor the dogged insistence of the government to hold local elections in June will change anything at all, unless electoral reform, following the OSCE-ODIHR recommendations takes place. The only forum in which this legitimately can happen is Parliament, but as it is constitutionally impossible for the opposition MPs to return to Parliament and any elections will merely continue the status quo, both parties have dug themselves into their respective positions.
It is now up to the opposition to formulate a proposal for electoral reform, not just a few talking points as they have done in the past, but a thoroughly researched, credible, and widely supported draft law implementing all of the OSCE’s recommendations, and use that as a basis for its political platform. Without it, any elections will be useless.
– Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei
