The election of the Albanian President came as result of the actions and
lack of actions of three people. This was the declaration of the US
Ambassador, Alexander Arvizu, insinuating that the presidential election
was “cooked” only by Sali Berisha, Ilir Meta and Edi Rama.
The Socialist Party did not bring any candidate name during the entire process. This was a stance that was criticized. Some called the opposition apathetic, anemic and incompetent to face the majority.
Being twice a Prime Minister, and one of the most authoritarian voices in the Socialist Party, Pandeli Majko has stayed in the shadows for a long time, and now he decided to give an interview on Top Channel’s “Top Story”, with Sokol Balla.
Majko explained his public disappearance by saying that it was related with the UN, where he has competed for a series of important posts. After losing the competition at the UN, Majko explained that there are many conditions that decide for the winner, outside the person, which are related with the influence of the country of the people who decide the candidate in these posts.
As for the Presidential election, Majko declared:
“Berisha exerted pressure with the presidential election since the beginning, when he said that he would choose a high rank Democratic Party figure, and then he said that he would choose someone from the diplomacy and legal area. The opposition is not naive to not think that the avoidance of the two first candidates is related with the pressure coming from the majority, and not the lack of consensus from the opposition. This was not a genuine process, there was no solid candidacy. Berisha knew very well that he needed a President that was OK for the opposition to continue with the integration. Europe must accept Albania as it is now, according to him, going around a single person where all institutions have the Democratic Party stamp”, Majko declared.
Sokol Balla: But why did the Socialists decide to be passive, by not bringing any candidate?
Majko: “The process started impartially. Berisha tried to exert more pressure to the coalition partners than to the SP. Zaganjori backed off after the third round, saying that he didn’t have the opposition’s support. Why didn’t he withdraw the candidacy when he went out of the SP headquarters, after he knew that he didn’t have the SP support? His withdrawal was part of the divisions between the majority. The SP did not propose a candidate because it had a majority that did not accept any candidate from the opposition. The system today is on the Democratic Party’s hands and they declare that it has failed. The Socialist party has had inner discussions about the stance. Berisha had the opportunity to surprise the West and Europe, but he didn’t do this”, declared Majko, saying that his name too was proposed by the Socialist leader.
As for Fatos Nano’s self-declaration as a candidate for President, Majko declared that the former Socialist leader offered a positive campaign to the political scene in the country. Majko declared that if Nano would have been a candidate in the fourth round, he would have taken votes from the majority.
As for the famous meeting at the Lalzi Bay between Meta and Rama, Majko declared that he didn’t have a good feeling about it in the beginning, but then he understood that it was a movement from Rama for trying to find a scheme for the presidential election.
“It is obvious that in the beginning I didn’t like it. I expected Rama to meet Meta, but not going at his house. Did Rama go there with his head down? Did he go for an apology? Did he go to forget the January 21st victims? The reason was that he wanted to exert pressure within the majority, but I think that his plan was what he had written in the editorial, that he wanted Berisha’s removal from the government”, Majko declared.
Majko said that he was skeptical about a coalition between the SP and the SMI, saying that this coalition is impossible in the current circumstances. The change of the Ministers in the government is seen by Majko as a renewal of Meta’s coalition with Berisha.
As for his personal relations with Meta, Majko declared that he had broken them since when the SMI leader formed a coalition with Berisha.
Is he sure that the SP will come to power in 2013?
Majko proposes a renewal of the opposition spectrum before the elections, thanks to cooperation. According to him, the SP must not stop its collaboration only with the left parties, but they should see for a wider coalition with the New Democratic Spirit, which might be led by President Topi, and also with the Red and Black Alliance.
“The opposition is facing a state is controlled by only one signature, and the refreshing of the opposition is something normal and necessary. We must be pragmatic and sit with people that want change. The differences between left and right parties in Europe today are less”, Majko declared.
After the clashes within the Socialist Party, such as that at the youth forum, Majko declared that this was the Socialist spirit and there nothing not normal in it, because in its entire history, the Socialist mechanism has worked with clashes between its own members.
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