When will the real roundtable begin?
PD and PS alone cannot solve the problems of democracy in Albania
The idea for a roundtable of all Albanian political parties came from the Council of Europe as a first step toward overcoming the political crisis, restoring confidence in democracy and, finally, creating suitable conditions for holding new elections.
But Berisha, in order to avoid such a roundtable and also to make acceptance of May 26 a fait accompli, took the initiative to put together several partial roundtables, where the number of his opponents would be as small as possible. Amid this variety of roundtables, the Socialist proposal for a two-party roundtable, PD-PS, also emerged. Regardless of the propaganda, the results—if we can call what is said to have been achieved in the contacts between PD and PS results—of these elections. The content of the discussions in the contacts so far cannot be useful for fulfilling the obligations set by the European institutions, since the other parties that play a role in the country's political life are not taking part. Whether focused on the local elections or on the form of a roundtable expanded to include other parties, the two sides have still not reached agreement in their contacts, even though a month has passed.
Specifically, just as in the past, both the Socialists and the Democrats will think more about themselves—about how to pocket as many votes as possible—than about finding an ideal formula for ensuring that the elections reflect the people's will as faithfully as possible. The Socialist leaders, moreover, appear to be under pressure from Nano's emotional appeals and his messages from prison, which he has intensified recently, and will find it difficult to accept any compromise.
Socialist proposal for the two-party roundtable, PD-PS. PD and PS results—are completely invisible. The very lack of results from the PD-PS meetings is the clearest indication that the PD-PS roundtable is serving to keep quiet the roundtable proposed by the Council of Europe, when representatives of all the main Albanian political parties were invited to Strasbourg. Although two months have passed since the European proposal for a roundtable of all the parties, nothing has yet been done in this regard and, given the commitment to the local elections, it is difficult to imagine everyone sitting down at the roundtable suggested by Europe before the end of
with local elections at its center, other parties—a matter on which, although a month has passed, the two sides have not reached agreement—what happened on May 26 has been completely forgotten. But without correcting the shortcomings and violations that put May 26 in the dock, one cannot claim to hold free elections, whether local or of any other kind. Moreover, given that the Socialist leaders are caught up in internal problems and preparations for the congress, no progress can be expected in the results of the PD-PS two-party roundtable; only when all the parties with a certain electoral base are present at the table can conditions be drawn up to guarantee that elections are held under normal conditions. Among the people. The Socialist leaders, then, being prison, which he has intensified recently, will find it difficult to accept any compromise, since this would shake their positions at the head of the party. Thus, going to their congress without having achieved a spectacular result at the PD-PS roundtable will leave the Socialist leaders facing a powerful attack from the congress delegates, which may prove difficult for them to withstand. In this respect, the PD-PS roundtable will be a greater obsession for them than their concern over Nano's emotional appeals. But any concession by PD could have consequences for PD's future, since it has not tolerated even the slightest questioning of the legitimacy of the May 26 elections. A.D.