PD and PS declare a truce. The Constitutional Court is both matchmaker and godfather. The parties: We will not take part in the elections

Stupidity or political vileness? Ever since the big parties found themselves surrounded by the fire they had themselves ignited in Albania, victimized by their own politics, the first things they pulled from their demagogic arsenal were the words understanding and consensus. In their sentimental framing, they often used these words so tearfully that one could truly be moved by their devotion to these terms—so much so that one might believe not only that they owned the words, but also that they held the patent on their invention in the Albanian vocabulary. Although, given the chronic lack of political professionalism in Albania, people had continually suspected that a dirty game—one of the big parties’ usual tricks—could be played at the expense of the very consensus they were trying to make us believe was always missing. But their hopes that the bigwigs’ shamelessness would not go so far as to mock them beyond every imaginable limit were somewhat warmed by the successive agreements signed around tables and in inter-party pacts. All the more so because the presence of a well-known name like Mr. Vranicki, acting as mediator for the May 9 agreement, seemed to create somewhat firmer ground for separating the zone of consensus from Demo-Socialist brutality. Nevertheless, that is not what happened. At the request of the PS parliamentary group and the Council of Ministers, yesterday the Constitutional Court struck down letters a and b of Article 4 of the Electoral Law, No. 8218, dated 16.05.1997. In the spirit of the compromise reached by the parties on May 9, the law provided for the allocation of votes accruing under the proportional system in a ratio of 75 to 25% in favor of the small parties. The PS’s shamelessness and unscrupulousness go so far that it attaches the “request of the Council of Ministers” to its own case, even though, as far as can be seen, the latter body has never even met on this matter, let alone made any specific decision—much less one involving an abuse worthy of being examined by the Constitutional Court. Nevertheless, the request was treated as valid by the Constitutional Court, even though it apparently was the work of a behind-the-scenes maneuver by Socialist Prime Minister Fino and latecomer legalist Ngjela. On the other hand, it is extremely surprising that this Court, which could have struck down the parties’ agreement as unconstitutional when it was signed, apparently unconcerned by the matter at the time, has now shamefully corrected its position by taking it upon itself to amend both the electoral law and the direct powers of Parliament. Is this stupidity, or political vileness? Although the bigwigs have often given evidence of the former, this case makes one believe the latter more. As for the manipulation of the principle of the equivalence of votes, which Gjata, as on other occasions, presented as a legally grounded argument, it would be a valid point if his listeners, too, were as incapable of arithmetic as our “constitutional judges.” Under the current ratios between the number of MPs and the number of voters, one MP emerges for every 0.5% from the majoritarian system, while under the proportional system one MP represents 2%. Nevertheless

Today, June 7, 1997, representatives of the political parties that signed the Declaration reviewed the Constitutional Court’s decision on amendments to the Electoral Law. These parties are convinced that this decision completely destroys the political consensus reached on the elections and on establishing an understanding among all political forces regarding the country’s future. They declare as follows: 1. The system adopted in the Electoral Law voted on by Parliament is the product of a political agreement. 2. The Constitutional Court has no right to challenge the electoral system, because no kind of electoral law can provide for and ensure the full observance of an individual’s vote. 3. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court has no right to make laws or fill legal gaps through its decisions, as is being done in this case. Under these circumstances, the undersigned parties, and in particular the parties that signed the March 9 Agreement and the May 9 Agreement, consider these agreements to have been violated. Consequently, they will discuss their continued participation in the Government of National Reconciliation as well as their participation in the June 29 elections. Signatories: Republican Party Union for Human Rights Party National Front Party Social Democratic Party Democratic Alliance Party Social Democratic Union Party Christian Democratic Party Democratic Right Party Pa...vizja për Dem...racine

Photo: A. Babani PD and PS leaders Shehu and Nano

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