Reading the Numbers — or Opposition Misery!

By Hamdi Jupe

A few days ago parliament debated and voted on judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries. It matters that this vote be read carefully. Its figures say a lot about what is happening in Albania today, in Albanian politics, of both the majority and the opposition. The vote in parliament produced a clear result: 84 votes “in favor” of the law proposed by the government and 27 against it — the latter votes from the opposition.

It is known that the government has only 80 deputies in parliament, following the departure of the “mountaineer” who speaks the language of Lek Dukagjini. Four further votes in support of the government came from other political subjects outside it. So it was not just the Socialists against the masquerade of judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries.

This result, with constitutional value, should have made judges and prosecutors think a little — they who claim to defend the Constitution and the laws. But they “took the bit between their teeth” and said they would continue their adventure in pursuit of money. That is their business. We must continue the political analysis — of the figures from the parliament vote.

Only 27 opposition deputies voted “in favor” of the judges’ and prosecutors’ demand for salary increases. An official figure, this. It is their right to vote as they see fit, but it is our right to comment on the figures. Recall that the entire opposition together has today a total of 60 deputies in parliament, including the “mountaineer”.

So where did the other 33 of her deputies go — those who did not vote at all, or did not vote according to the “order” of their parliamentary leader Gaz Bardhi, per the decision of her leader Sali Berisha? Why did they hide — those 30 men and women (excluding the 4 “rebels” who voted for the government’s version), who make up about 55 percent of the opposition’s deputies? Some hid behind their wives’/husbands’ backs at home (it was 2 a.m. when the vote took place), some stayed in parliament’s smoke-filled café and some behind their “abstentions” on the law, when the vote on the salaries of the “poor” judges and prosecutors took place.

Why did those 30 opposition deputies not vote according to the political order of their “historic” leader? This is not a very difficult problem to understand. They, the opposition deputies, did not agree with the stratospheric salary increase for the people of the law, so they did not vote — they dodged the vote — and here lies the problem of their opposition party’s “monolithic unity”. Their leader Berisha wore himself out calling SPAK “SKRAP” from morning to evening and declaring he would dissolve it as soon as he comes to power. He left the vote because he is of old age and sleepy, leaving his “work” in Mr. Bardhi’s hands. Then, how can a person with a mind in his head accept this 180-degree turnaround in his stance toward prosecutors and judges? This is a matter of the morality of opposition politics, namely: “do as I say, but not as I do”.

If the opposition were in power today, would it have voted “in favor” of the law on raising judges’ and prosecutors’ salaries? Naturally not, because then it would not dare to go out among the people to ask for votes. Public media polls show that about 75 percent of citizens were against the madness of the high salaries demanded by them. A great dilemma — how can this party go to the people and ask for votes from them eight months from now for local government, after these politically immoral stances in parliament?

They would not have the courage to appear before the people when the people asked them: why did you vote to raise the salaries of the judges and prosecutors, who have “drunk our blood” for 30 years, etc. The majority lined up its remaining 80 deputies, because that is what they went to parliament for, and on good salaries. The opposition was left with a rooster’s comb. This is the problem: only because the government brought the draft law, therefore we come out against it. Opposition misery.

Conclusion: of the 140 deputies parliament has, only 27 of them, or a total of 19.3 percent of all deputies, voted “in favor” of judges and prosecutors. How low has the opposition sunk, even after 13 years of staying in opposition. Eclectic stances that lead nowhere. And the new local elections are on the horizon. And the opposition’s alibi of “manipulation” of those elections has been ready in the drawer since the last elections.