A retreat in self-government
ALEKSANDËR ÇIPA
The Socialists are announcing changes in the Government. Their leader, Nano, said during this week that the Executive would respond to the intensive changes. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Meta has also been moving along this same “track.” The consensus on this announced change between Prime Minister Meta and Socialist leader Nano appears to reveal, at the same time, the Socialist majority’s conviction that it should be more careful in sharing Executive posts with its smaller allies. This time, the Social Democrats are threatened with losing their influence in the Government, specifically the two ministerial portfolios held by the Minister of Transport, Ingrid Shuli, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Paskal Milo. At least up to this point, there is no room for confrontation or debate between the party leader and the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, within the majority party, the view seems to have taken shape as to which Socialist ministers should give up their portfolios, making way for a new “adjustment” in the selection process. However, the Government changes, expected mostly during the coming month, leave open the possibility of a new round of discussions and proposals within the Socialist camp when it comes to the names to be put forward as replacements. The Social Democrats, who have always voiced concern in such cases through their leader, the Speaker of Parliament, can naturally be expected to follow with further reactions and warning moves. In this expected sequence of events, the Socialists themselves appear to be heading toward the final year of their governing term, putting self-government to the test. This gesture, taken as a warning of a new political positioning by the Socialists themselves in relation to the administration of their electoral mandate, in fact also marks the premise for their reconfiguration. At least, this seems to be the direction taken by Socialist leader Nano, who, not without reason, has scheduled a packed calendar of trips this month to several European countries, as well as by Prime Minister Meta, who seems to have moved past some insinuations from 16 days ago more quickly than expected. On the other hand, the ground for this choice by the Socialist leadership has been favorable, if one considers the significance of the context of the latest developments in Kosovo and Western concern about the critical flashpoints in the Balkans. The fact that the Nano-Meta announcements of changes in the Executive have not been followed by extreme reactions or harsh positions from either the opposition or the coalition allies (although, viewed in that light and also from the perspective of coalition monitoring, this is also a domestic matter) speaks clearly to this favorable environment. Politically, the majority’s political leaders seem to have found the right moment and have sufficient room to make a political gesture in the service of being on the threshold of electoral developments.