FLASH
Shkruar nga Mero Baze
From a legal point of view, every mayor is free to refuse, or every director is free to take him to court, if he does not agree to move from his current position.
The resignations of socialist municipal officials throughout Albania are part of a political action by the Prime Minister, but are neither a legal obligation nor a structural reform of the government. In conditions of overpowering, when the socialist majority controls both the central government with a qualified majority, and the local government with 56 municipalities out of 61 in total, Edi Rama thinks it is good to replace political rotation with administrative rotation. And in this case, to give more chances to a new generation in the administration.
So, it is a completely political action and as such should be treated only politically. From a legal point of view, any mayor is free to refuse it, or any director is free to take it to court, if they do not agree to move from their position.
The high rate of acceptance of resignations and the almost automatic implementation of the order indicates the high level of acceptance of Edi Rama's power within the power structures, but not the legitimacy of the order.
And here the debate should begin on how those who are resigning will be replaced.
Such a high number of civil servants who voluntarily leave their posts cannot be replaced with a second round or a list dictated by the Prime Minister. Filling these positions is an important test to understand what standard the government can impose on new appointments.
This could be the first massive campaign of appointments outside of electoral pressure, as Edi Rama is firing those with whom he won the elections and is trying to put new professionals in office, who may have voted against him. The ease of resignations shows how few socialists are ready to line up against Edi Rama's will and how few officials are ready to turn to the courts for unjustified dismissals.
Those who are leaving are not leaving as failures, nor as corrupt, nor as politicized. They are simply leaving out of the need to change the administration, which of course has 100 black spots in relation to serving citizens. So, in a way, a difficult social experiment is being conducted, where the overlords are given the luxury of removing whoever they want, but they do not have the luxury of taking whatever comes their way, because at the end of this action, if we have worse people than those we removed, then this campaign is both illegal and regressive.
And if the cost of removal is already borne by the Prime Minister, the cost of appointments must be shared with every mayor or director of a government agency that seeks to reform. This is a kind of rotation within the government and an expansion of the political boundaries of the majority towards the gray layer and the right, which can ease political tension without elections and can increase the aggressiveness of Berisha's party for fear that they can take local factors by employing them in the administration.
Albania practically has the human resources for a good administration, but not for a left-wing and a right-wing administration. And this is the case for Edi Rama, taking advantage of his dominance, to attempt a non-political refresh of the local administration. But the real challenge is the omnipotent “directors” of the central administration, who have budgets and power over the economy at their disposal. With the directors of municipalities it is easier, because they have nothing in their hands.
Now, the ease of resignations covers this burden that Rama took on with his excessive power. The most important part, that of appointments, must be left to open competition, the laws of the Albanian state and, above all, transparency in appointments according to values. Otherwise, at the end of this "rotation", the socialists may have an administration even worse than the first, even more illegal, even more politically irresponsible.
Lini një Përgjigje