TIRANA, Jan. 5 – A day after Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama officially submitted the changes that reshuffled the Socialist-led government at the end of December, the country’s President Ilir Meta decided to decree only part of them.
Out of the eight ministers Rama replaced, Meta decided not to decree Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati’s dismissal, while decreeing only four out of the nine new appointments – Deputy Prime Minister Erion Brace, Minister of Agriculture Bledi Cuci, Minister of Entrepreneurial Protection Eduard Shalesi and Minister of Parliament Relations Elisa Spiropali.
The four names decreed by Meta are parliament members and so automatically fill the criteria to become members of the governing cabinet.
Concerning the rest of Rama’s appointments, coming outside of the field of politics altogether (Gent Cakaj, as Foreign Minister, Anila Denaj as Minister of Finance and Economy, Belinda Balluku as Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Besa Shahini as Education Minister and Elva Margariti as Minister of Culture), Meta will use the seven days granted in the constitution to make necessary verification they are fit for the position.
Failure to decree the dismissal of Bushati was also described by political experts as a sign that Meta will take more time to decide on his successor to head the Albanian diplomacy.
In fact, Rama’s decision to reshuffle the government and, in particular, replace the chief of Albanian diplomacy, caused surprise and drew in criticism. On the one hand, because it came at a time when diplomacy faces important challenges – from European integration, to OSCE leadership in 2020, while also waiting to become part of the Troika’s organization starting next year, while also being in the process of dialogue with Greece to address a number of pending issues, including the Maritime Border Agreement.
In addition to this, his successor – Gent Cakaj, currently deputy foreign minister – has been viewed with skepticism due to his young age and lack of experience for this key institutional posts.
Nonetheless, Rama has persistently defended his choice, saying Cakaj is “one of the most knowledgeable people I have met in my life, one of the most committed to a very difficult job, such as the work he has done covering all the integration process, where I could evaluate his capacity as a leader of a very difficult process, and certainly, as a boy who is very close to the vision, the program, the way of seeing the things of our political family.”
