The Rama 4 cabinet has surprises in spades. The spectacle has given way to deja vu. Instead of bold experiments, we have recycling experience. Instead of surprises, we have a familiar gallery that moves from one ministry to another like football players on the last day of the transfer market.
On the list of veterans, Belinda Balluku continues to be the "architect" of infrastructure and energy, Mirela Kumbaro moves from tourism to education, Elisa Spiropali from Parliament to diplomacy, Petrit Malaj remains in finance, Pirro Vengu in defense, Blendi Gonxhja takes the joint portfolio of culture, tourism and sports, while Delina Ibrahimaj moves to the new innovation economy. So experience is guaranteed.
But the innovations? – a new minister in health, Evis Sala, Sofjan Jaupaj in the environment, a technical and completely new name; Besfort Lamallari in justice, replacing Ulsi Manja; Andis Salla, who came from the municipality of Cërrik, in agriculture; Ervin Demo in local government. And the peak of the “innovations”: Diella, the first artificial minister, an artificial intelligence appointed to manage public procurement. In other words, tenders are being handed over to the algorithm. Amen!
Edi Rama spoke clearly: "this is the government of 12 years of experience". And indeed, the challenges remain the same as those of the distant year 2013: drinking water 24 hours a day, garbage that burns, but not in incinerators, the environment that brings us closer to Africa than to the EU. Tourism, the banner of propaganda, continues to drown among waste and sewage. Diplomacy, which according to the Prime Minister is "in a different time from Albania", does not convince anyone, perhaps because for 12 years it has been led by socialists, not aliens.
On the domestic political front, the Prime Minister gave a double message. Niko Peleshi at the head of the Assembly is seen as the offer of “peace” to the opposition – a calm man who promises institutional dialogue. But on the other hand, the command of the parliamentary group is held by Taulant Balla, the man of confrontation, of the daily “war” in the hall. The message is clear: the PS is ready for dialogue, but also for confrontation. In essence, it is a combination that gives Rama the luxury of being above the parties, leaving others to play the role of good cop or bad cop according to the needs of the day.
But the real ambition was not hidden: Edi Rama said without a quiver in his voice that he sees the SP in power until 2050, a horizon that even surpasses Enver (40 years in power) and announced the competition with the Revolutionary Party of Mexico that remained in power for 71 years. The opposition, according to his scenario, must be reduced as in the black year of 1997, when the DP received the lowest historical result. The diversion has been concrete for months: appointments and invitations for the Democrats to be involved in local and central government. It is not about co-government, (remember 2017) but about a way to seduce, weaken and disintegrate the main opposition party.
And above all, the unannounced headline: Erion Veliaj. His name was not mentioned, but the solution was there – dismissal from the Municipal Council and the candidacy of Ogerta Manastirliu. Because if Veliaj did not resign, new elections could not be announced without first going through the Constitutional Court – a battle that he would most likely win.
The Rama 4 government is not a government of surprises, nor of experimentation. It is a government of continuity, of a power that aims to extend until mid-century. And the question that remains pending: when the promises of 2013 have not yet been fulfilled, will the patience of Albanians survive until 2050? For this, as the Prime Minister himself said, "strategic patience" is needed!