Parliament with Two Faces
The vote on the government and on each minister separately is done by secret ballot in Parliament, while the defense was voted on in violation of the new parliamentary rules and the Constitution
The Balkan phenomenon “Majko”
When he was elected, Pandeli Majko was placed in the prime minister’s post in last year’s version. But a few months later the government was reconfigured; not only did it leave following the change in its vote of confidence in Parliament, but now a completely different government is officially in power. Even those who speak most skeptically about the process of this state move can safely say that today’s parliament votes for different governments depending on the case. This is precisely where the paradox of the recent events lies. Our usual clumsy habit of every move where Parliament does not truly function, and even the government turns into a dual version. It not only governs in two different ways, but has also taken on two political faces. If yesterday the prime minister was legitimized according to the Constitution and the new parliamentary rules, the Minister of Defense was voted in contrary to both. Thus the government has two faces as well. Since the government is one and indivisible, it follows that Majko must have two faces: one under the name of prime minister, the other under the name of minister. The priest who makes this “metamorphosis” possible is the Albanian prime minister. In fact, he could be called unusual, put into other vessels. At least in the first version of his yesterday-and-today position. To understand better why this can happen, let us return to Parliament.
To understand better why this can happen, let us return to the new rules. In its current version it says that the vote on the government and on each minister is by secret ballot in a box. However, the objection comes from Majko, who is also taking the post of Minister of Defense. A number of parties, especially the opposition, stress that the Albanian prime minister cannot hold two posts. Meanwhile the majority has approved it without lingering on the matter, justifying it with the needs of the “military” moment. This is why Parliament today is engulfed in a long debate, in which each side reads the Constitution according to its own political interest.
If the vote is secret for the government and not for the individual minister, then there is a standard. If the minister is voted on differently, the standard is broken. This is exactly where today’s contradiction arises and why there has been talk of a Parliament with two faces. On one side, MPs demand application of the rules; on the other, a majority seeks to gain time and overcome the procedural obstacle.
American President Bill Clinton and the Prime Minister of Albania Pandeli Majko