Page 61 - bneMag Dec22

bne December 2022 Southeast Europe I 61
A talented artist who also played basketball for Albania’s national team, Rama became part of the movement pushing for democratic reforms, led by the Democratic Party, which briefly in the early 1990s looked like it might be the country's democratic future. However, he clashed with the movement’s leader Sali Berisha; three decades later the two are still rivals, with Berisha now back in charge of the party, which is the main opposition to Rama’s Socialists, the successor to the Communist Party.
Rama left Tirana for Paris, but returning to Albania for his father’s funeral he was offered a position in the cabinet of then prime minister Fatos Nano. He became Albania’s Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1998, then was elected mayor of Tirana two years later.
When Nanos resigned as leader of the Socialists after losing the 2005 general election, Rama took over. He sought to reorientate the party by reaching out to Albanians beyond the traditional Socialist support base, an approach that followed that of Tony Blair’s New Labour in the UK (years later, Blair’s consultancy was employed to advise Rama’s government).
Under Rama, the party made a comeback in 2013 and has been in power ever since.
A new broom
After a series of corruption scandals under previous governments, the Socialists announced a wide-reaching campaign against corruption and the informal economy, reforms to the energy sector, as well as a concerted effort to tackle drug cultivation.
This paid off quickly; shortly after a high- profile military operation at Lazarat, dubbed Europe’s ‘marijuana mountain’, Albania was granted EU candidate status, despite concerns on the part of member states such as the Netherlands. As the government aimed to progress to accession negotiations, this was followed by the launch of deep judicial reforms.
The reforms led to an upturn in Albania’s performance on Transparency
President and parliament locked in power struggle to control Montenegro
Denitsa Koseva in Sofia
Thousands of Montenegrins protested on November 8 against the parliament’s decision to change the law on the president, limiting his powers. They also demanded an early election instead of a new government.
The protests, organised by President Milo Djukanovic’s former ruling Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), were the latest move in the power struggle between Djukanovic and the new majority in parliament.
Montenegro is going through the deepest political crisis in decades as Djukanovic is refusing to give a mandate to Miodrag Lekic of the civic Demos party to form a government despite his nomination by 41 out of 81 MPs. Djukanovic claims this parliament should be dissolved and an early vote should be called.
A coalition of 20 parties is trying to force the president to give the mandate to Lekic. As part of these efforts, the MPs of the coalition amended the
law earlier in November, claiming the changes would bring clarity to the duties of the president and would put an end to the current political crisis by forcing Djukanovic to give a mandate to form a government to the candidate proposed by the ruling majority.
However, Djukanovic as expected vetoed the changes and the parliament now has to vote on them again.
Under the amendments, the president is obliged to propose a prime minister-designate if the candidate has the support of 41 MPs in parliament. In case no such majority is formed, the president has to organise a second round of consultations with political parties and propose another candidate.
A majority of at least 41 MPs can sign a petition to propose a prime minister- designate if the president refuses to nominate a candidate.
According to the constitution, the president can propose a prime minister- designate only with the signed support of at least 41 MPs.
The protesters, around 15,000 according to the organisers, carried banners reading ‘Stop spreading hatred’, ‘We no longer have a choice – we want elections’, ‘For the EU’ and shouted offensive slogans against Montenegro’s outgoing Prime Minister Dritan Abazovic and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.
“We must restore order and institutional strength, get back on the European path. This is a fight for the right to a decent life. Let us have elections,
for the people to have their say, so we can get Montenegro back on the European path after elections. We have just started and we will not stop until each one of the goals is achieved,” DPS member Danijel Zivkovic said during the rally as quoted by N1.
“We exist and we are a lot. And there is Montenegro. Free, civil, multiethnic, independent. And there will be Montenegro. European. And there will be us. Whenever it is necessary,” Djukanovic wrote on Twitter on November 9.
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