Albania
Political Environment
Political stagnation characterised the first half of 2002, following the resignation in February of Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, after the ruling Socialist Party (SP) combined the posts of party chief and prime minister. SP Chairman Fatos Nano succeeded Majko, who himself had come to power in 1998 as the result of an internal power struggle between Nano and the previous Prime Minister, Ilir Meta. This lack of continuity in the government severely hampered development of the country’s weak institutions. The country entered a phase of political dialogue, following an EU-brokered agreement in June 2002 that was intended to prevent the long-standing feud between Nano and the Democratic Party (DP) leader, Sali Berisha, from continuing to hinder the reform process. The EU, irritated by clannish Albanian politics, in effect ordered that a president be elected consensually. This led to the election of retired army general Alfred Moisiu for president. Although the 73-year-old Moisiu leans to the right, he has pledged to represent all Albanians equally. Also under international pressure, the two main parties reached an informal accord on electoral reform. After a long period of confrontation, the country entered a phase of political dialogue. In August 2002, parliament voted in a new Socialist-led government with the SP chairman, Fatos Nano, as Prime Minister for a third time. The opposition Democratic Party (DP) ended its boycott of municipal and country government institutions and began to work with the ruling Socialist Party (SP).
By early 2003, however, this unusual consensus appeared to have unravelled, returning politics to its more normal fractiousness. The power struggle within the SP however suppressed after August 2002, never ceased to exit. Gradually, two rival fractions were formed, led by Fatos Nano and Ilir Meta. The struggle erupted openly in July 2003, as the then deputy prime minister and European integration minister Ilir Meta, and the foreign minister resigned, causing a crisis in the government. President Moisiu declined the demand of the opposition for formation of a technocratic government. Ermelinda Mexi and Marko Belo were appointed by SP for new deputy prime minister / minister of European integration, and foreign minister, respectively. The fraction led by Ilir Meta voted against the new appointments. The SP is currently in a deep internal crisis. While Fatos Nano controls the base party structures, which took decision to take away the deputy mandate of Ilir Meta and his followers, Ilir Meta is the leader of the SP parliamentary group and exerts strong influence over it.
Leka Zog
In June 2002, Leka Zog, the son of the self-proclaimed former King Zog, returned to live in Albania after 63 years of exile. Albanians appear largely indifferent to his presence and his desire for a referendum on restoration of the monarchy. Although Leka Zog has no political influence, he tries to demonstrate a patriarchal air towards “his” people by making the occasional pronouncement on the injustice of the division of the Albanian nation into multiple states.
Under a presidential decree, the local elections in Albania are to be held on October 12th, 2003. SP refused to grant the Shkodra municipality to the ethnic Greek Union for Human Rights Defense, which formed a coalition with a party that defends the rights of the Montenegrin minority that lives in the North part of the country. Both SP and DP failed to form strong and stable coalitions in the left and right political specter. This fact, as well as the internal struggles within SP, will most probably lead to a strong competition in the elections and a possible reorganisation of the political scene afterwards.