The big problem with small parties!

The big problem with small parties!
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By Alfred Peza

There’s a widespread perception that the Albanian electoral law prevents other parties, besides SP and DP, to become big parties. Said like this, our code resembles a decree issued by a sultan, who decides which party will be eternally big and which one will be doomed to be a small party, or in the best scenario, will endlessly fight for survival, in order to remain within the system of parliamentary parties, where the main temple of policy making and voting of legislation is. Even this, like any other truth, is not an absolute one. On the contrary. It looks as if it has turned into a political myth. But I will go into more details to explain this, not by going into the articles of the electoral law, but by explaining with my own words the philosophy that overthrows this idea.

First of all, it is not the code that prevents the growth of a political party. And it’s not the code the one to decide who wins and who loses the elections. But, it’s the interpretation and the failure to explore in practice, all the gaps that the code offers for all the parties involved or those who want to participate for the first time in the race. The best proof for this is SMI, which in the past four years managed to have a parliamentary group of 20 MPs, by growing five times as opposed to the previous mandate from 2009 until 2013. Meanwhile, the current parliament also has in it the representatives of a number of other political parties.

Secondly, there is a law which has not been written in the modern political history of democratic countries, according to which, you cannot become a big party by embracing small causes. Causes which only serve temporary or permanent interests of several groups or particular social clans. On the other hand, there are several parties which are identified or which identify themselves with particular ethnic groups or religious orientation and since the moment they are born, they exclude themselves from the possibility of becoming as big as to represent all the classes of society throughout the entire territory of the country. And there are also political parties whose only card is to offer voters employment opportunities, in a country with nearly three million eligible voters, which has only 100 thousand jobs to offer in the central and local government administration.

Thirdly, politics is the art of compromise and as such, it must masterfully be exerted in harmony with the specifics of what it offers, stimulates and it must encourage such thing in relation to other political parties in the race. So, by examining the possibilities that the law offers and by exploiting practical opportunities in relation to other parties, you can attract more voters.

Fourthly, in politics “it’s not important how many mandates a political party has; what counts is what this political party does with them”. This is another golden rule. In 2009, this was exactly what SMI did, because with 4 seats that it had in Parliament, it managed to secure 20% of power in alliance with the DP and Berisha. Like no other party after 1990, it managed to have more supply than demand in terms of what it could do for voters. In other words, it had more jobs to offer than voters and people with suitable qualifications to do those jobs. Even PDIU and other political parties (Republican Party during Berisha’s government, etc) have been able to be represented in all government levels. But what have they done with it? Have they offered another governing style, different from the “large” parties? Self Determination in Kosovo is a very good example. This party managed to double its electoral result compared to the 2014 elections. There were a number of factors that played a role for this, but one of them relates to the fact that this party has never accepted to be part of the ruling coalition. It preferred to remain in opposition, in order to gain the confidence of voters as a real governing alternative and by becoming the most voted party today in Kosovo (beyond coalitions).

Fifthly, the selection of candidates for Parliament is another golden opportunity, yet to be exploited as it should by political parties who want to grow.

We just need to take a look at the lists of all the parties that have been submitted to the CEC and their CVs in order to understand that many of them are under the average of the population of Albania in terms of their education, cultural formation, engagement in the social life of the community or the country, etc.

Lastly, almost in every election, new political parties are added to our political arena. Some of them create big expectations due to their leaders and the action that they initially launch. This is another example which rejects a claim which is often encountered and according to which, it’s not the system or the law or “our political jungle” that should be blamed, but it’s the Albanian voters that should be blamed, because in the 2009 campaign, polls gave G-99 the same percentage as the SMI. But this expectation could not be reflected in the number of votes and seats in Parliament. The same thing also happened with Red and Black Alliance Party led by Kreshnik Spahiu in the 2013 election campaign. Libra Party led by Ben Blushi also faces a similar threat in these elections. This comes as a result of the lack of organization by these parties, which have not been able to capitalize on the needs of the citizens.

In spite of all of these arguments, this doesn’t mean that the SP and DP are not more advantaged than other political parties to hold on to the same positions that they have held on to during the past 27 years. Of course, history has favored them. The electoral law too, up to a certain extent, due to the formula that it applies. But it’s also been their merit that they have managed to survive in high levels of policy making in the country. Let us not forget that many other small parties in Eastern Europe which were created after the fall of the Berlin Wall, initially managed to seize power, but today, they no longer exist or their influence is almost insignificant now. However, there’s always hope that the “small” ones will be able to make it in the future and conquer the big stage, for as long as up until now, besides the post of Prime Minister, they have occupied all other posts, from the President of Republic, Speaker of Parliament, deputy Prime Minister, ministers, important heads of departments and mayors all over the country.

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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

 

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