WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GENTLEMEN MINISTERS
What is worrying Prime Minister Nano? “This period is perhaps showing even a certain luxury in the structures of the executive”
It is not the first time that Fatos Nano has made his anger toward the government public.
The country's socialist government has not managed to meet the prime minister's demands. The reform that, as conceived by him, would put the country on the right path is not being carried out. While in governance on the one hand nothing particularly significant has happened, neither in market management, nor in dealing with the country's problems, nor in local government or in general calm, the prime minister identifies the sharpest problem with the government. After analyzing the administration performance report for the first quarter, Nano expressed dissatisfaction with the ministers. This period, he said, is perhaps showing even a certain luxury in the structures of the executive. He further said that so far nothing major has happened in the PSD-PS Government that would place unfair responsibility on any of the cabinet colleagues. However, considering the fact that this performance analysis of the administration had never been done before, then we may think that beyond the cabinet's troubles there is especially their neglect. The measures proposed and taken at the central level are awaited with interest for acceleration, administrative reform, and especially for increasing the effectiveness of the government apparatus. The term used by the prime minister for some members of his cabinet, apparently creates great concern among them and he calls it “luxury in the structures of the executive”. Tired of justifying figures that rise and fall, of poor coordination of work, often reproached with the remark that they always find the alibi of time to shirk responsibility, but also with the protracted reform in this 29-day stretch of government, some of the ministers have gotten away with it. They have been involved in completely secondary activities, they are doing a little politics and a lot of administration instead of reforming. Let us recall that debate which the ministers of Local Government and Economy undertook a few days ago over the tariff scale and the land price. The opposition is intensifying its activity, but the government is almost standing still. It seems that Nano is analyzing the progress of his own mandate, including all the partners he has, and is arriving at a conclusion that will turn him entirely into a manager-prime minister. In the improvised government after the crisis orchestrated last July, he did not choose a political group with experience and personality. It was more a group of directed politicians and technicians, most of whom came in politically anonymous. In these conditions it was difficult, and still is difficult, to find people with personal responsibility and, above all, distinguished by individuality. Sitting in a government surpassed and with an excess of unsuitability and that most of the time has movements and dismissals, it is hard to speak of a political process such as the institutional one. To the problems with the government, Nano is carrying out a political restructuring, with terms that are not very favorable. But this move by the prime minister has come for another reason as well. There are about 30 convictions in the public opinion of the country that the reinstated socialism is failing as a reform and is not meeting the expectations it raised. This new finding has not alarmed him to the point of collapse, but the government must build the state and the conditions of normality that Albanian society requires. The public solution is not the comfort of ministers in their offices, but only honesty, effectiveness and morality. Looking briefly at this government period, one sees that ministers are more occupied with ceremonial events, protocol, inaugurations, press conferences, than with reforms. Economic movements, monetary and fiscal stabilization, and social indicators are still fragile and the government has not been able to give development the necessary pace. Taking into account internal and external pressure as well, this drawn-out situation has given the opposition ground for attack, while giving the prime minister reason to admonish the cabinet. If there is to be a real improvement, it will not come from declarations, but from the concrete work of each minister in his own field. Otherwise, the prime minister's assessment remains justified in saying that the government is moving slowly and with unjustified luxury in the structures of the executive.