Page 48 - The Economist20171214

48 Europe The Economist December 16th 2017
Tirana Kaczynski, PiS’s reclusive party leader. De-
spite earlier speculation, the 68-year-old
Europe’s new did not take the job for himself—as he had
in 2006, during PiS’s first stint in power.
go-to city The government is now headed by a more
emollient figure: a formerbankerwho also
continues to head the ministries offinance
TIRANA and economic development. Mr Mora-
Albania’s capital is enjoying a wiecki served in 2010 as an economic ad-
renaissance
viser to Donald Tusk, who was then prime
NCLE ERI! Uncle Eri!” shout gaggles minister (and is now president ofthe Euro-
“Uofsmall boys who rush to high-five pean Council). PiS and its nationalist fol-
Erion Veliaj, the 37-year-old boss of Tirana, lowers loathe the liberal Mr Tusk. But Mr
Albania’s capital. He has swung by to in- Morawiecki, who did not join PiS until
spect a street where tarmac and new sew- March 2016, has won MrKaczynski’s trust.
age pipes have just been laid, and where Within PiS, Mr Morawiecki is a relative
weeks ago there were potholes and mud. moderate. Yet in his first interview as
No city in Europe has changed as much in prime minister-designate, with TV Trwam,
the past 25 years as Tirana. Now Mr Veliaj, Radio Maryja’s television counterpart, he
who istipped bysome to be a future leader called for the “rechristianisation” of Eu-
ofthe country, is changingit again. rope. “In many places carols are not sung,
In hisfirsttwo yearsasmayorMr Veliaj, churches are empty and are being turned
a member of the (centre-left) Socialist into museums,” he said.
Party, worked on the city centre. In June he Not quite as expected With the spotlight on Mr Morawiecki,
completed work on Skanderbeg Square, PiS has pushed on with its overhaul of the
the heart of Tirana. Once a busy round- awarded and for attempting to muzzle un- judiciary, which it describes as an “extraor-
about, cars have been banished and trees friendly media, both claims he denies. dinary caste”. On December 8th, after
and fountains have replaced them. Plans Asked if he would like to lead Albania in months of deadlock, the lower house of
are even afoot to renovate Tirana’s wacky the future, Mr Veliaj coyly says he is think- parliament approved modified versions of
but dilapidated1980s pyramid. ing only about winning a second term as two laws that had been vetoed by Andrzej
A quarter of a century ago, Tirana was mayor. Right now he could not be in a bet- Duda, the president, in July. One of them
more capital village than capital city. Un- ter place. Everyone can see the results of strengthens parliament’s, and so PiS’s, in-
der communism it was a backwater of his work, and he benefits from not being fluence over the National Judiciary Coun-
200,000 people. Until 1991 private cars embroiled in a scandal that broke in Octo- cil, which appoints judges. The other af-
were banned, there were few shops and ber that has damaged Mr Rama and the fects the Supreme Court, which, among
virtually no entertainment. Now (partly government. A former minister of interior other duties, rules on the validity of elec-
thanks to boundary changes) it is home to was accused of collusion with drug smug- tions. About 40% of its 80-odd judges will
1m people—more than a third of Albania’s glers, a claim he denies. Satisfyingly for Mr have to stand down. The new law sets a re-
population. The city generates half of the Veliaj, the former minister, whose career tirement age of 65—but gives the president
country’s GDP, says MrVeliaj. has been destroyed, was his only serious discretion to retain older judges if he ap-
The fall of communism ushered in a challenger for the eventual future leader- proves of them. The new laws mean that
crazed phase of building everywhere, in- ship ofthe Socialist Party. 7 all the courts will be politicised, warns the
cluding over Tirana’s central park. Edi head ofa judges’ association.
Rama, now the Socialist prime minister, Worldlier than his predecessor, Mr Mo-
cleared away many of the centre’s illegal Poland rawiecki will tryto improve the Polish gov-
buildings when he was mayor. Mr Veliaj ernment’s image. Yet patience may be run-
has picked up where he left off. Debeatified ning out. The European Commission,
When Mr Veliaj was ten his father died which has challenged the judicial reforms
and he was taken to Greece on his uncle’s for undermining the independence of the
shoulders as they clambered across the courts, has been awaiting the laws’ final
mountainous border. Later he studied in wording before deciding how aggressively
America and Britain. He first came to pub- WARSAW to pursue infringement proceedings
lic attention runningMjaft, an activist anti- against Warsaw. Commission sources say
corruption group which did much to dis- The prime ministergets the chop that if the laws are signed in their current
credit the government ofSali Berisha, who N DECEMBER 6TH Beata Szydlo, then state, the sanctions procedure will imme-
was prime ministerfrom 2005 to 2013. OPoland’s prime minister, was the spe- diated be triggered. Adecision this week to
Now that he is half way through his cial guest on Radio Maryja, a conservative fine a broadcaster for the way it covered
mandate Mr Veliaj has switched his atten- radio station that is close to the governing opposition protests also fuels concern.
tion to Tirana’s suburbs. Almost all the Lawand Justice (PiS) party. Herappearance Halfway through its term, PiS remains
buildings there were illegal, and services was overshadowed by something every- popular, buoyed by its extravagant welfare
patchy. Some homes and businesses built one had known forweeks: Mrs Szydlo was policies, especially generous child subsi-
in parks and on other areas where they on her way out. And indeed by the follow- dies. A poll last week puts its support at
should not be are now being demolished; ingevening, she wasthankingPolesfor her 41%, far ahead of the two main centrist op-
even more are beinglegalised. Formany in two years in office. On December 11th Ma- position parties, on a combined 29%. As
the suburbs this is the first time they are teusz Morawiecki, her deputy, was in- Poland heads towards local elections next
coming into contact with the state in 25 stalled as prime minister. Mrs Szydlo was year, followed by parliamentary ones in
years, says MrVeliaj. allowed to stay on; but she is now her for- 2019, PiS is emphasising continuity. After
His enemies attack him for not being merdeputy’s deputy. all, the country’s real boss—MrKaczynski—
transparent about how contracts are The switch was ordered by Jaroslaw will not be changingany time soon. 7