A critical study on the role of the internationals in Albania, titled
“Bridge on Troubled Waters” assesses that the country has turned into a
“stabilocracy”, a system that offers stability abroad but that inside
the country wavers between democracy and authocratic tendencies.
The co-work of three foundations based in Bulgaria, Germany and America, the study analyzes some of the most important events in the country, starting with the Constitutional amends of 2008.
“The international community praised these amends as essential achievements, since they were reached with consensus between the two political forces, claiming that consensus ended the political war between the rivals Berisha and Rama. But the Constitutional amends opened way to the consolidation of the state’s control by the governing elite. The international community helped with the consolidation of stabilocracy in Albania, which offers stability abroad, while inside the country it wavers between democracy and authocratic tendencies”, the study says.
The reports analyzes in details the cases of “Basha”, “Gerdec” and “January 21st”, to show that Albania is under the control of the elites, by the biased usage of the undemocratic laws and procedures.
“Rather than consolidating democracy, Albania has experienced a complete control by the government and a comprehensive usage of the non-democratic procedures, when laws are used by the elite in power to exert their control. This is not about for the problem of distinguishing the written papers from the spirit, opr the process and the law values, but also for misusing laws and institutions for personal political and individual purposes. The rule of law has an essential importance, but Albania marked important steps in this area and for the international actors it seemed difficult to find the necessary answers against the abuse with institutions and procedures”, the study says.
The study includes 18 recommendations for the international community, also for the elections of 2013. A special attention was paid to the waste management referendum, which has been asked by more than 60.000 citizens.
“The international community must clearly set the limits before the elections of 2013, so that they can end any kind of redefinition of ‘success’ and the fashion of hiding behind formulas like ‘there is progress, but there are still irregularities’, which has often been used by the international representatives and the Albanian politicians in the past. It must be clear that every failure for holding free and honest elections will have significant consequences for the integration and image of Albania. The non-official representatives of EU, OSCE and USA must continue its work, and for this they must improve their coordination and cooperation”, the study says.
As for the waste management referendum, it says: “Intellectuals and former politicians supported the Alliance Against Waste Import, which also had the participation of the the former President Alfred Moisiu, the writer Fatos Lubonja and other activists of the civil society and environmental activists and who appealed for an international referendum about this issue. It is a tragicomedy that the Environment Minister, who is also responsible for the Gerdec tragedy, guarantees that ‘nothing bad will happen’ with the waste import.
The 55 page long study was presented in Brussels in front of the EU member countries, the European Commission and the Albanian government.
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