2017-The three pillars of this year’s political events

2017-The three pillars of this year’s political events
This article has been written for Albanian Free Press newspaper and www.afp.al

By Alfred Peza

Even if it weren’t an electoral year, 2017 would be politically complete, based on the dynamic of developments concerning the judicial reform and the process of our European integration. Thus, the question at the end of this year is: Was the reform in the judiciary system what decided the fate of the general parliamentary elections? Or was the result of these elections what actually sealed the fate of the reform? On the other hand, if we add to these important pillars that of diplomacy, then the “trinity” of Albania’s developments throughout this year is complete.

Let us take these three aspects to decide how they will impact the New Year 2018.  First, the June 25 elections showed that the fact that the left wing and right wing remain in power 8 years in a row every time they win the elections, has not been incidental in the past 20 years, because this ritual has not even changed when socialists won a second governing mandate until 2021.

Lulzim Basha’s DP based its strategy of coming back to power on the political game of isolating itself in a tent in the middle of the boulevard in Tirana, claiming that it wanted to install a New Republic. Leaving rhetoric on the side, it was seen that there was nothing else that would inspire people for this, when the chairman of the DP sat down on the midnight of 17 and 18 May along with Edi Rama in order to agree on participating in the elections, conditioning this participation with the participation in the government with people proposed by the DP. With  the list of candidates for MPs that he registered at the Central Election Commission, Basha led  the DP toward a bigger division, conceding a shameful defeat on Election Day. The fact that the DP is not the largest political party in Albania since 1996, shows that it needs a major organization, a new program, ideas and a new leadership.

Meanwhile, after eight years in power, once in a coalition with the DP (2009-2013) and once with the SP (2013-2017), the Socialist Movement for Integration moved to opposition, preserving the number of seats in Parliament. Prior to this, Ilir Meta was elected President of Republic with the votes of the SP, leaving the party’s leadership to his wife, Monika Kryemadhi. The biggest challenge that SMI has in front now are the 2019 local government elections. This tests its electoral and political strength, after two years of remaining in opposition.

Secondly, the judicial reform slowed down throughout the year, failing to be implemented according to the predetermined calendar. The reasons for this failure relate to technical and procedural obstacles which had not been foreseen, but above all, this failure had more political motives. This mined the creation of new institutions which would conduct the vetting process toward judges and prosecutors.

The failure to set up the High Board of Prosecution in time led the debate to focus on the issue of the mandate of the General Prosecutor, Adriatik Llalla and the way he was going to be replaced. From the election of a new Prosecutor General who would have a 7 year term in office, energies were focused on the election of a new interim chief prosecutor. The US and EU embassies along with OPDAT and EURALIUS played a determining role in the solution of this legal and constitutional gridlock, which the opposition attempted to turn it into a political gridlock.

The creation of the High Board of Prosecution and the High Board of the Judicial System have been blocked by the candidates of civil society at the beginning and the candidates of the prosecution afterwards, as they are yet to be screened. Two months from the creation of these institutions, perhaps in the Spring of 2018, we’re expecting to see the creation of two other institutions: The National Bureau of Investigation and the Special Tribunal, thus shaping the new structure of the justice system, which is expected to yield the first results of a deep constitutional reform which was voted around a year and a half ago with the votes of 140 MPs.

Thirdly, in an international point of view, the standard of the June 25 elections and the start of the implementation of the judicial reform, may have offered to Albania a clearer perspective for European integration. Favored by a geopolitical situation dominating Western Balkans, within the first 6 months of the year, the EU is expected to grant Albania a date for the start of accession talks. If things go well, Albania may become an EU member country in 2025.

This agenda has also been associated by other developments in the diplomatic aspect, such as it was the case of the country’s vote “against” the USA on the issue of Jerusalem being the capital of Israel. Albania was part of a list of 128 states which voted in favor of the holy city to keep its current status, recognized and accepted by the international community throughout history.

Meanwhile, we have harmonized our policies with Macedonia thanks to positive political developments in Skopje. Meanwhile, after the meeting of the two foreign ministers in Crete, Albania and Greece seem to have started a process which is expected to solve once and for all the numerous pending historical issues that exist in our relations. This is a step that Greece also seems to be taking with Macedonia. This would help our region to speed up its pace toward European integration.

This European internal and regional agenda and the fact that Albania has been determined as one of the top tourist destinations in the world by the most prestigious agencies of this industry, are expected to be the two main pillars of the country’s developments during 2018.

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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