The Albanian President, Bamir Topi, declared for DW that one of the most
negative events of the year that we are leaving behind was the death of
the January 21st protesters.
“In the chronological sense, what I would not want to have them repeated, are the January 21st events, which created a very severe situation in Albania, and I believe that were the cause for a negative consideration of Albania’s EU candidate status”, Topi declared.
When asked about corruption, Topi underlined that war against this phenomenon should be handled by all institutions.
“When I say all institutions, first are those that belong to the political class, because this is a disease that needs to be treated before being cured. It needs deep reforms and it is indispensable for all politicians, all justice system workers, prosecutors and judges, to give their immunity up”, the President declared.
Bamir Topi also replied to the accusations that the majority launched against him recently.
“It is good news when the President is considered as detached from the party interests. You know that when I was chosen President, I had the constitutional obligation to give up any partial commitment. These accusations towards the President indicate the institutional and constitutional correctness of the President. According to the Albanian Constitution, the Constitution Court is the guarantee of the Constitution. The fact that the President decrees have not been rejected by this Court shows that these accusations are unfounded. I feel good in implementing the rule of law and the Constitution. I have made this with full conscience and I am not disturbed by the accusations of any political party”, declared the head of the Albanian State.
In another interview for the Voice of America, Topi valued the new cooperation climate between the majority and the opposition.
2011 was characterized by unpleasant episodes that derived from the lack of political communication, the political conflicts and the lack of cooperation, which are not normal for a democratic country. I have always hoped for the reestablishment of dialogue, which now seems to be realized. The product of this depends on the political will of the Parliamentary forces. The fact that they are discussing the electoral reform and that some laws passed, although it used to be unthinkable that they could pass in Parliament, show that the things are returning to normality. It is only the beginning of normality. We must wait for seeing the continuity of the obligation that the political parties have for not creating such obstacles. Although the political debate might be emotional some times, behind the Parliamentary decision s there are important matters related with the state, with the institutions, the functionality of some structures that have an extraordinary significance in democracy”, Topi declared.
The President was asked how he felt now, after five years, when the Democratic Party door seems to be closed for him.
“First of all, I entered the Presidency by implementing a Constitutional obligation, that of abandoning the role at the Democratic Party. Secondly, regardless of what will be the future of Bamir Topi as an individual, I don’t think that the democracy and the democrats can be found only in institutions. The democrats are in the social and public terrain. We meet them each day and I would say that that term (a closed door) is not well fit, because in democracy, the terrain is open for any individual. Only when we will reach the highest democratic standards, we will be able to understand that democracy, politics, business and every other vital activity is a real competition matter. Let’s leave it to the future to evaluate and judge the progress of each career, might it be individual or in group”, Topi declared.
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