Impunity culture

What is your evaluation for the democracy in Albania, especially the institutional one?

“What’s missing is the democratic culture, the respect for the
institutions, the professional behavior of the people who work in these
institutions. But the real concern for me, are the political actors or
the people who vote in the elections. However, the state administration is
what I would call the bread and butter in politics, the services they
offer, the accountability to the citizens, and this is what concerns me
most. It is easy to get enthusiastic about the elections, for
this or that intrigue, but the everyday governing, the one that might seem
boring, is the most important thing in democracy. Who will offer the
education, health care and war against corruption? All these are very
important”, Arvizu declared.

Asked about the lack of the inequality of the law, Arvizu expressed his concern and valued it as a very urgent matter.

“This is one of the most urgent problems, the culture of impunity. I
don’t think I have an answer to this, but the fact that the country
leaders, the government and opposition alike… there is so much focus
and obsession for politics, that there is not enough attention regarding
the political culture. The elected ones, public officials, police officials or
judges, the entire judicial system in general, should be more
responsible with the citizens. There is so much irresponsibility and
this is very painful”, Arvizu says.

What’s the opinion of the US diplomat in Tirana for two of the hottest
topics in Albania, such as the Meta-Prifti trial and January 21st?

“What is frustrating for me is the fact that these cases are marked by
so many delays. There have been cases when the judges or the lawyers
have not been present, and this is very typical in the Albanian judicial
system. As for the forensics that you mentioned, there has been no
US official involvement for this matter. The companies that we have
recommended are reliable enough for us to use the American tax payers’
money for offering training services. As for the January 21st events,
the assistance was direct, involving the FBI, the Special Lab that
helped the Prosecution for this case, starting from the logistics of the
investigation and to the way how the investigations were conducted. The
Albanian prosecutors are conducting the investigations, but we believe
that it is significant the fact for USA to be directly
involved”, Arvizu declared.

“I liked the opposition that I saw after November”, says Arvizu, while
for the expulsion of Kastriot Islami from the Socialist Party, Arvizu
considered it as an inner issue of the party.

What does Alexander Arvizu predict for the election of the new President
and the return of Fatos Nano in the Albanian political scene?

“The case of the new President will be very difficult next year. I am
not sure what it means to have a consensual President, but it is
important for the ruling party and the opposition to concentrate on the
Constitution for seeing who will be the best individual for this special
role. I have often said that this role must be separated from the other
powers; there must be a separation between the President and the Prime
Minister. Fatos Nano has expressed his availability. He is one of the
most experienced politicans, and I have said it earlier that these two
political figures have been dominating the political scene in the last
20 years, Sali Berisha and Fatos Nano. In some ways, they have different
personalities; they’re different politicians, but natural politicians.
He expressed his readiness, but it is up to the people of the system to
say what will be his role, and I cannot say anything about this”, Arvizu
declared.

Asked about the current almost antagonist relations between the PM Sali
Berisha and President Topi, Ambassador Arvizu gave this response:

“I am very sorry, but only they can tell the real source of the problem,
but they are not in the same wave length. I hope that between them and
the political actors in general could be more respect for the
institution. In Albania, the politics personalizes the institutions very
often. Allow me to speak about myself. I have very strong opinions,
and for this reason, people know my past mistakes and how I might make
other mistakes in the future. People have mistakes. But I understand that everything
that I do, everything that I say, I say it as the US Ambassador in
Albania, and I do this with dignity, keeping in mind the respect that I
have for this post”, Arvizu declared.

Ambassador Arvizu concludes the interview for Shqip by valuing the
constructive relations that PM Berisha has built with the neighbors, and
he didn’t hesitate to consider the Tirana-Belgrade relations as
very constructive.

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