Unfortunately, for the past 30 years, both international and Albanian leaders have often tipped the scales of justice to serve their respective political agendas.
As Paskal Milo, former foreign minister, noted recently for a leading Albanian daily, the US and Europe threatened to pull aid from Tirana if Berisha was arrested for his coup attempt in 1998. Their reasoning, then, was that arresting Berisha could lead to further unrest and threaten an already fragile region.
Today is different. The region is more stable, as demonstrated by the recent Open Balkan initiative, linking Serbia, Albania and North Macedonia. Berisha no longer enjoys the support of the West that he once did – evidenced by the recent US decision to designate him and his family personae non grata, for their involvement in “significant corruption.”
But Tirana has shown little inclination to arrest Berisha for these actions, or charge him with any crimes. Many of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama’s detractors believe this is because Berisha is a welcome distraction from the government’s systematic failure to apply the rule of law for years.
They may have a point, as suggested by the most recent European Court of Auditors ECA report on EU rule of law in the Western Balkans.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama. Photo: EPA-EFE/MAURO SCROBOGNA
According to the ECA report, “EU support for the rule of law in the Western Balkans has had little impact on fundamental reforms.” The report confirms Transparency International and World Bank findings that in Albania and many of its neighbors, “despite years of EU reform action, state capture and widespread corruption have not been contained”.
In particular, the report points to the Public Procurement Agency, PPA, about which it says: “Business representatives and journalists said that corruption in public procurement is pervasive, with clear indications of state capture: procedures often lack effective competition, the prices bid for public works are inflated, and procurement for concessionary agreements lacks transparency.”
The PPA has often been the stage for inappropriate, mutually beneficial relationships between political leaders and members of the business elite.
Recently, it was discovered that a waste incinerator concession awarded by Rama’s government to Lefter Koka, former environment minister and a Socialist Party MP, was being used as a multi-million dollar money laundering operation. Koka was arrested on corruption charges. But his well documented associations with members of the ruling elite lead many to believe he will, at worst, get a slap on wrist.
Rama’s ruling Socialist Party have been in power for more than nine years, and control both the government and parliament and enjoy the backing of Washington and Brussels. With the Democratic Party in complete disarray, the Socialists will likely remain in the driver’s seat for some time, irrespective of the party’s corruption record.
That is, unless Rama decides to serve the interests of the nation over those of his party. To do that, however, he would need to apply the rule of law evenly and broadly across party lines, which would likely benefit the besieged Democratic Party’s efforts to rebuild.
Alternatively, he can perpetuate the two-ring circus act with Berisha as a distraction from his own failures, while paying lip service to his drive to build a state rooted in the rule of law.
Fron Nahzi is an Adjunct Faculty member at American University’s School of Public Affairs. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of American University or BIRN.
