TIRANA, Jan. 8 – A stalemate between Albania’s president and government over a series of key nominations is likely to continue, after President Bujar Nishani said this week he will not accommodate a government request to comply with new procedures in filling three vacant seats in the country’s High Court.
The government had asked the president to reopen the process for three seats left vacant in the court by using legislation parliament approved in late December, aiming to have a greater say by the parliamentary majority over the presidential nominations.
In this particular case, the president has sent several names of judges to parliament only to have the names rejected, with some ruling MPs admitting to the local media they are rejecting qualified candidates simply because they are caught in a tug of war with the president.
Nishani, a former high official of the main opposition Democratic Party, has been butting heads for months with the Socialist-led government, which sees the president as an obstacle through holding up nomination processes in areas like the justice system and diplomacy. The Socialists want a greater say in the presidential nominations.
The president has sent some of the legislation parliament has passed to curtail his powers to the Constitutional Court, being able to successfully overthrow overreaching legislation.
“I continue to note with regret the lack of will of the majority to implement the decisions of the Constitutional Court, after a decision that clearly defines what it means consultation between the president and parliament for the appointment of judges of the High Court. I will continue to respect the constitutional rights until legislators decide to amend the constitution,” Nishani said this week in an interview with the Albanian service of VoA.
Nishani said he has a difficult relationship with the majority ruling, in particular in what he sees as the government trying to increase the executive’s influence in the judiciary.
Government officials have for months urged Nishani to come on board with a major reform of the justice system, which they see as key to fighting corruption in the country.
Socialist members of parliament have repeatedly accused the president of being heavily biased and representing the interests of the former governing party that elected him, rather than the entire people as mandated in the constitution.
In turn, Nishani has blocked a series of nominations through inaction, including leaving key diplomatic missions abroad without ambassadors because he has vetoed the people the government has proposed.
Albania’s president, like the head of state in many parliamentary democracies, holds weak powers under the constitution, but he has a say in certain key areas, particularly when dealing with the justice system, the military and the diplomatic service.
