FLASH
Shkruar nga Mero Baze
The Socialist Party today is facing the stripping of its political identity and its transformation into a vote-management and administrative force.
A few days ago I had to go to one of the public administration service offices which had an exemplary, almost Western organization. And right at the peak of my self-esteem as a Western citizen receiving quality service, one of the girls serving me, since she recognized me, asked me if I was with “Partizan or Tirana”, which as she explained with a laugh, she wanted to ask if I was with Balluk or Veliaj.
Although it was a bit humorous, it actually reminded me of how little a good administration matters without a political character.
The Socialist Party today is facing the stripping of its political identity and its transformation into a vote-management and administrative force. The Socialists lack neither the governing capacities nor the people who secure votes in the electoral campaign. The Socialist Party lacks socialist politicians.
Of all the blows a government can take, the most dangerous is the one that comes from within it, from its political impotence. Such a large political force in power, with so many managers and administrators, with so much human support and civilian people, suddenly resembles a frightened chicken because it no longer thinks politically, but administratively.
And this is most visible now, since after Erion Veliaj, Belinda Balluku is facing justice. The first case, that of Veliaj, was passed off half as a conspiracy and half as an atavism of the internal war against hostile groups. But the case of Balluku overturned all assumptions and showed the socialists that they must also politically confront the justice system they have built themselves.
This is a symptom of a much larger crisis: the separation of politics from itself and the opening of the door for other institutions to expand spaces that do not belong to them, but that the Albanian people have entrusted to politics and politics alone.
It is no secret that within the Socialist Party there are many people who do not like Belinda Balluku. Just as there were those who rubbed their hands when Veliaj was hit. Just as there are others today who eagerly await the fall of someone else, for old, new, supposed or simply conjectured reasons. But the problem is not Belinda.
Not Erioni. Not the previous names, nor those who are waiting their turn tomorrow. The problem is the self-destructive pleasure with which a part of the Socialist Party watches the blow to its own man, forgetting a fundamental truth: when a socialist falls unjustly, the entire party falls, and after it the government itself begins to fall.
This party no longer thinks politically, but as power clans, linked to particular figures who deflate like balloons when they see that justice has been served to the man they had pinned their life's dreams on.
All this happens because the political character of the government has declined. Ministers speak little, debates are avoided, political positions have been replaced by technical communiqués. There is no political morality. No one dares to get to the heart of the issues and no one takes on political initiatives. Why? Because fear has become the invisible advisor of the government. Fear of SPAK. Fear of public perception. Fear of the sins of the past. Fear of media noise. Fear of internal discontent. Fear of the leader and the political line he decides. And a government that is led by fear is a government only on paper, not in substance.
Justice is necessary. It must be strong. It must be tough when justice is sought. But justice cannot be government. The moment a criminal court gains the power to suspend ministers without the decision of the Assembly, then we have entered very dangerous territory: the executive becomes changeable with security measures; the constitutional balance is distorted; a single judge can dictate the composition of the government; politics goes on a permanent defensive; justice begins to play a political role without ever being voted on.
Similarly, when a sitting mayor is abducted from office during an investigation period before charges have been filed, he is put in prison for 9 months, and then, to pressure him, they open case after case to tell him to shut up.
The Justice Reform was established to clean up politics with judicial decisions based on evidence beyond reasonable doubt, not to take over the governance of the country without a vote. Its purpose was to punish the guilty, not to replace politics; to strengthen the state, not to change the executive with security measures. It was not conceived as a power that would dictate political power, but as a power that would be independent of politics, not of the law.
In this terrain, where new institutions are being engulfed by the lust for power, Albania does not need false calm or fearful silence. It needs constitutional, not political, clashes; strong, but constructive clashes between powers. This is the only way a democracy works: power must limit its lust for the moment; justice must be reminded of the limits of its powers; the government must be given back the obligation and space to govern; while the Parliament must be given back the role of guardian of the balances.
Institutions are not made to always agree. They are also made to clash, but within the rules of state respect. When they clash properly, that is where the boundary is set: how far justice goes, where politics begins, where the government or the Assembly decides. These boundaries are not set by the silence of fear. They are set only by constructive clash, which strengthens the system and protects the state from the deviations of its own institutions.
It is an illusion to think that a chaotic opposition can take the place of the Socialist Party in government. The Socialist Party is the only political force with the people, experience and structure that can lead the country towards the European Union.
The problem today is not the opposition. The problem is that the Socialist Party has begun to function not as a political force, but as a large administration in waiting. And Albania cannot be governed by the administration. Albania is governed by politics.
The inevitable conclusion under these conditions is simple: either you exercise your mandate, or you don't deserve it. This is basic political logic. The Socialist Party has received a historic political mandate, the strongest in 33 years. The people have given it not out of internal resentment, not out of silence, not out of fear, nor out of secret joy in hitting each other. They have given it to govern with political force with their votes, not with technical administration. To maintain the balance of strong powers, not to surrender to technocrats.
To lead the country into the EU with dignity, not with fear. The Socialists must behave as a leading force and not as a force led by justice. Otherwise, they will lose both the EU's chance and the chance to do justice.
Lini një Përgjigje