By Alfred Peza
Two months will be gone from the day of the parliamentary elections of 25 June until 9 September, when the new Parliament is officially expected to convene. From this moment until the ministers take their oath and the new government starts its work, another two weeks will be gone, making the total period 90 days. So, three whole months or quarter of a year. This history is repeated once in four years, every election year, wasting one of the most important and critical periods for the country. This transition period is used to hand over power from one majority to the other, from one prime minister to the other, from one government to the other, from one parliament to the other.
For nearly 13 to 14 weeks, de facto, the country is left without 100% effective governance, by creating a situation which leads to a drop in the pace of reforms in the country. As a result, the central administration is put in a moment of forced stagnation, reducing the amount and quality of the services offered to citizens. In this case, it’s not important if the elections lead to a rotation or a continuation of the party in power. What’s important is to understand that in a country with a democracy such as Albania, it is vital not to waste any time unnecessarily, because even the World Bank states in its reports that this slows down economic growth, macro-economic stability and the social standards of the people. But it also has an impact on public order.
This concern does not only stem from the Socialist Party militants, who are certainly impatient as a result of pragmatic reasons. But this concern is articulated by every citizen, who has voted or not and who is looking forward to see the new government of his country back at work, in order for it to complete public works and investments started during the first term in office, but also the start of new projects and reforms which have been promised during the campaign to be finalized in the second term in office.
The main obstacle for this situation is article 67 of the Constitution. The first point of this article stipulates that “the President of Republic convenes the newly elected parliament not before the expiry date of the mandate of the previous Parliament, but no later than 10 days after the expiry of this mandate. When the previous Parliament is dissolved before the expiry of the mandate, the President of Republic convenes the new Parliament no later than 10 days after the announcement of the election result”. The second point of this article states that “in case the President of Republic doesn’t exert this power, Parliament convenes on its own on the tenth day of the deadline set forth in point 1 of this article”.
In the period when these constitutional provisions were passed, the legislator certainly envisaged another electoral reality from the one that we have today. For this, we may easily refer to the history of the previous elections. From the moment ballot boxes were closed, the process of ballot counting, the acceptance of the result by the parties and the certification of the elections by the Central Election Commission, weeks and months went by. This situation was not caused just by the electoral law of that time and the formula that was different to the one being used today, but also by the numerous problems in the human aspect of the management of the process on the ground.
Meanwhile, in the 2013 elections and in particular, on the 25 June elections, the counting process ended in a few hours. In 2-3 days, the Central Election Commission announced the preliminary results of the ballot counting; the winners, the losers and the division of seats for each party in the race. The official certification of the elections, including the period during which parties could lodge their grievances (only PJIU has claims for a seat in the constituency of Tirana), will be a matter of days. Let us suppose for a moment that all of this may require another two weeks. This period coincides with 24 July, the day when the current Parliament will convene in order for the new President of Republic to take his oath and assume his new duty.
If article 67 of the Constitution would be different in the case of the new election reform, as one of the points of the deal made by Rama and Basha on 18 May, then it would be reformulated: “President of Republic convenes the new Parliament no later than 10 days after the announcement of the election result”. If this was the case, then, as soon as President Meta entered his new office, the first decree that he would sign would be the constitution of the new Parliament at the end of July. After the newly elected MPs are sworn in, the Socialist Party proposes and the President mandates Edi Ram as the new Prime Minister, inviting him to form a government. According to article 97 of the Constitution, within ten days, the Prime Minister presents his political program and the composition of the new cabinet in front of Parliament. Once the ministers are decreed, they take their oath in front of the President and the new government starts work.
This entire process may last until 9 August the latest, one month before 9 September, when the new Parliament is expected to be constituted and one and a half month before the new government starts work. As we can see, such move could earn us 6-7 precious weeks, which are wasted due to an old provision of the Constitution. Now, it’s up to constitutionalists, to the heads of the new Parliament and parliamentary groups to correct this handicap, sparing us nerves and energies in a key moment for the life of the country, which is repeated every four years.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy
