By Eduard Zaloshnja
The Democratic Party has considered free and honest elections as a non negotiable condition to participate in the Vetting parliamentary committees. In spite of the arguments that it offers, this seems as a tactic to postpone the launch of the Vetting process, with the hope of postponing its application indefinitely. But besides the typical Albanian tactics, the question “free and fair elections or a justice system that delivers justice?” is a question that has often concerned many world thinkers, following the failure in several countries of the world to make them more democratic.
Francis Fukyama has written two volumes, 500 pages each, about this (Political Order series). After analyzing different countries in the past 3000 years, the only conclusion that Fukyama reaches is that democracy can only flourish in countries where there is the rule of law (and not ruled through laws) and where state administration is built based on meritocracy. Otherwise, he writes, democracy is nothing else but a game between political parties whose goal is to come in power through elections and who exploit the concept of fatherland in favor of the leaders and militants that support them.
Fareed Zakaria has also written two books on this topic (Post-American World and Future of Freedom). He concludes that there can be liberal democracy only when the justice system is independent from the political power and when it serves for the purpose of check and balance against political and social excess. Otherwise, he writes, we will not have a liberal democracy.
Reflecting on the experience of the West there after the Dayton Agreement, Paddy Ashdown, former de facto governor of Bosnia wrote that the West spent a lot of money to develop political parties, civil society and free and fair elections in Bosnia. And it was successful in this. Political parties and NGOs were empowered and there were several free and fair elections, leading to power rotations in both central and local government. But corruption and organized crime grew from one year to another with the empowerment of political parties and NGOs and also with the rotation of power.
It would have been better, Ashdown writes, if we had spent a fraction of the money that we spent to prepare 10 prosecutors and 10 judges who were competent and honest, in order to fight corruption and organized crime. This way, we would have installed the foundations for a liberal democracy.
But, there haven’t only been books written on this topic. There has also been action. In countries such as Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Guatemala and Honduras, where the EU and/or USA have vital interests to build liberal democracies, the West has strongly contributed for the establishment of special investigation forces with the aim of sending behind bars high political figures, who are corrupt or have ties with organized crime. Based on this experience, USA and EU are insisting for this to take place in Albania.
In the current conditions, even if it were a tactical move, the Democratic Party’s persistence to block the Vetting process, would be in futile in terms of its short term benefits, because in its best year of the past two decades (in 2009 when Berisha was an omnipotent Prime Minister), the parties currently in coalition with it managed to win only 740 thousand votes, while Albania has around 1 million and 740 thousand voters.
Regardless of the fairness of the elections, regardless of the electronic or biometric technology used in them, the Democratic Party will not be able to come in power if the Socialist Movement for Integration doesn’t turn on the Socialist Party. But, if SMI turns on the SP, the DP may come in power with the help of SMI and without the need for an electoral electronic reform.
Bearing in mind the abovementioned electoral equation, the country too will not see any immediate benefits from the electronic electoral reform. If the coalition between the Socialist Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration remains as it is, this coalition will continue to remain in power regardless of the fairness and freedom of the elections. But, if SMI goes back to the coalition between DP and SMI, then we will see a government similar to the one formed four years ago.
As Fukuyama said, in a where there is no rule of law, democracy is nothing else but a game between political parties whose goal is to come in power through elections and who exploit the concept of fatherland in favor of the leaders and militants that support them.
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Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy.
