“Nano 3” is sworn in
Nano at the head of the installed administration, after the rigged elections of 29 June
The President, at attention before the Muslim prime minister. Nano falsifies the parliamentary mandate. He met the pyramid-scheme operator Ilir Milo, turning his head toward Serbia. Nano finds the guard; he “finds” the government of the gangs
On Thursday evening, Albania saw the installation of the first communist government with clean votes since the fall of the communist system in 1992. The government led by will be called such, although it mainly represents the largest number of deputies from the socialist left, who will share the ministerial portfolios. It has 18 members, one more than the previous government that emerged from the 26 May elections. This government operates with 15 ministries, 11 of which were previously held by the government of Aleksandër Meksi, two have been newly created, and two state secretaries also worked in the prime minister’s cabinet.
Kosovar Nano, who until one week ago was the leader of the party with the largest number of deputies in the Albanian parliament, was proposed for the post of prime minister by President Rexhep Meidani and received the assembly’s approval with 108 votes in favor and 11 against. As soon as he was declared the winner of the vote, Fatos Nano committed an unworthy gesture for an executive leader. He raised his fist in a victory sign, as former communist leader Ramiz Alia had done on 12 September 1991 before the former congress of the PPSH. Commentators deemed Nano’s gesture inappropriate for a prime minister, recalling that on Monday, in the justice institutions, he was removing from Albania part of his capital accumulated through criminal paths and wealth obtained in the dishonest electoral process of 29 June. The new prime minister has no parliamentary mandate and, despite the head of the CEC, Kristaq Kume, sending parliament a few hours before the start of the plenary session a certificate stating that Nano is a deputy from the Saranda district, this mandate has still not been recognized for the Socialist leader, since two other deputies who ranked ahead of him in the electoral list had previously refused to accept it. If Nano does not win the parliamentary mandate or if the Constitutional Court rules the Saranda elections invalid, he must leave the government. Nano also falsified yesterday the past of several ministers in his cabinet.
Under the Constitution, the appointed prime minister must present the composition of the government to the President for decree, and the head of state decides by signature on its legality. But yesterday morning, Nano was rude to the head of state. After arriving at the presidency accompanied by the press secretary, Kastriot Islami, Nano first sent in his chief of cabinet, Ilir Konomi, with the list of ministers. According to sources from the presidency, the list initially submitted was incorrect. It included changes in ministries, although these changes were more a matter of order and naming than actual changes of ministers. Nano returned to the presidency with the corrected list and accompanied by a minister, Sokol Nako, but even then he did not meet the President, forcing the head of state to sign the decree in the absence of the author of the government. Such an unethical and unprecedented act, which also diminishes the figure of the prime minister, was standard practice of dictator Enver Hoxha.
The composition of the new government showed that Nano meant it when he said after the campaign ended that in order to win the elections he had created political ties with the gangs. When the government had just received parliament’s approval, all three of its deputy prime ministers automatically raised their hands to applaud. The first, with experience as Minister of the Interior in the 1991 government, Arben Malaj; the second, a sociologist from the Academy of Arts, Bashkim Fino; and the third, a young man from the leadership of the PS, Ilir Gjoni. The selection of the latter is a clear indication of the government’s future line. Gjoni is a member of the party leadership, but above all a family friend of Nano. The wife of the new prime minister, Aneta Nano, is a former lecturer at the Higher Institute of Arts. She taught the course in Marxist philosophy in the final years of the communist regime. Mr. Gjoni was her student. Thus, in Nano’s cabinet, friendships are taking the place of meritocracy.
Nano expressed a clear sympathy toward the Islamic world. His government includes two ministers of Muslim origin, Kastriot Islami and Musa Ulqini. A name of Islamic origin was also found in the Meksi government, but never before had the composition of a government in Albania known the dominance of such names. In a country where religious coexistence is a national symbol, this detail is also noted as a political sign.
The new cabinet also includes figures known for ties to pyramid schemes or for positions close to non-Albanian circles. Ilir Milo is referred to as a pyramid-scheme figure, while the foreign orientation is seen as turning toward Serbia. The new government is thus presented as a combination of political, clientelist, and regional interests.
The three ministers raise Nano’s hands high. Nano’s two secretaries show and a half-sheet too