Albania: Leaders Lock Horns Over New Foreign Minister
By Gjergj Erebara
Albania’s Prime Minister, Edi Rama, has condemned President Ilir Meta’s refusal to decree his choice for a new foreign minister, which is expected to create a constitutional crisis.
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama on Twitter on Thursday condemned
President Ilir Meta’s refusal to endorse his nominee Gent Cakaj as new
foreign minister, calling it “not just unconstitutional but also
shameful”.
He also issued an apology to Kosovo “about this shame”, as Cakaj has citizenship of both Kosovo and Albania.
Earlier,
President Meta refused to approve the new minister, claiming he was not
up to the challenge of running diplomacy, in a move that could create a
constitutional crisis in the country.
Cakaj, aged 28, was chosen by Prime Minister Rama for this key position after he decided to change about half of his cabinet last December in response to a wave of mass protests.
Meta has accepted all of Rama’s six other nominations for ministerial posts.
In
a letter sent to the Prime Minister earlier on Thursday, Meta said
Cakaj had neglected his obligation to obtain security clearance for
about seven months since he became a deputy minister.
He also raised doubts about the speed of the procedure followed by
Albania’s Security Check Commission to award him top-level clearance
within one day on January 4.
“Cakaj does not fulfill the
criteria, does not have credibility and does not offer the necessary
guarantees to exert his duties objectively and with the required
stature,” Meta wrote.
Following Meta’s decision, Rama mocked
commentators in Albania and Kosovo that had supported Meta’s decision,
saying they were “defecating rivers of love for the nation”. A
much-repeated slogan of Meta’s claims he works with “serenity and love”
for the nation.
Under the constitution, the President cannot
refuse to decree the appointment of ministers. However, Albania
currently lacks a functioning constitutional court to settle the matter.
Rama
chose Cakaj to replace now ex-minister Ditmir Bushati, who was one of
the seven ministers that he axed after a year of popular student-led
protests against government policies.
Meta was elected President
of Albania last year with Socialist Party leader Rama’s support.
However, his own Socialist Movement for Integration, currently led by
his wife, Monika Kryemadhi, has moved into the opposition since those
elections.
Last October, Meta refused to decree another new Interior Minister, Sander Lleshaj, but later relented.
