By Plator Nesturi
Who may benefit from an aggravation of the political situation in parliament? It’s hard to believe that citizens or the electorate will, because these scenes with shouting and clashes between MPs, have become so common now that they have lost any interest whatsoever. Is the DP interested on them? Not really, because more than the chaotic situation caused by internal debates and factions within the party, this right wing force is more interested on coordinating structures, drafting strategies and function like a normal political party. Is Rama interested on this? In a way, yes. Because with this naïve and disoriented action that the DP is leading, the Prime Minister and his government can play around all they want.
But someone must be interested in this tension scheme. And the most interested one on this is Lulzim Basha. The leader, who has been strongly criticized even by his own people within the DP, seems to be under stress, because he is looking to create political tension at all costs. And this is the only way we can describe it after what we saw in parliament yesterday. The fact that he insisted on a session of debates over a topic which the head of the DP parliamentary group had not requested in the chairmen meeting, was only a trick to provoke clashes and tension. Nothing more. It was not a topic of debate on the most acute problems of the country, but a simple alibi for conflict, in order to assume the role of the victim.
A poor theatrical performance, nonetheless. A young man who is not that brave, provokes police and is whipped a couple of times. All of a sudden, he tries to turn himself into the hero of those who are abused by power. This way, everyone forgets about the harm that he has inflicted upon his family and friends.
Basha needs this tension with debates or without debates. Criticized about the defeat in the elections, the list of MPs and the way he was reelected as chairman of DP, the internal debate continues and this has weakened both the party and his position. Patozi’s and Bode’s new incentive, which is also supported by other figures of the DP by giving rise to a faction within the party, is no small challenge that the main party of the opposition must face. Let us not forget that these are some of the most historical figures of this party. Therefore, tensions in parliament, with or without cause, would simply avoid many of these problems. There would not be any time for an internal party debate. If the party enters a political battle against the majority, then all the criticism addressed against Basha would be left in the shadow. Even a commander cannot be criticized before a battle, although his organization is poor, morale is low and the motive for the battle is a fake one. Basha is only interested to remain a commander, although his army may turn into a crowd that will be mocked by everyone who sees it.
While we return to the debate which caused all this melodrama, we see that this debate loses all of his importance. Not because it’s not relevant. The topic of criminality, fight against corruption and vetting in the justice system is something in which the general public is very interested. But, if it is used in this form, citizens feel betrayed and this whole issue turns into a banality. Every Albanian could have expected a debate on the events that concern their day to day problems, topics which have also become a cause for concern for the international community too. The Democratic Party would have done this if it had been prepared itself for opposition making, first demanding a debate of this nature in the meeting of the parliamentary groups’ chairmen. If it has failed to do this, it’s either without a strategy or it’s without vision to be an opposition. Or, perhaps, it is looking to use this to create fake tension in the interest of the chairman. In both cases, the DP is risking a lot, because nobody may take this party seriously in the future.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy
