PRESIDENT TOPI: IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TIRANA 000009 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/08/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KJUS PHUM AL SUBJECT: PRESIDENT TOPI: IT'S LONELY AT THE TOP Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Stephen A. Cristina, reasons 1.4 (b) a nd (d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Although generally regarded as the most respected political figure in the country, President Topi occupies a precarious and lonely position as President of the Republic. Elected by the Parliament in 2007, Topi sees himself as a defender of the constitution and independent democratic institutions - a position that has led to frequent clashes with the ruling Democratic Party. During a January 6 meeting with Charge d'Affaires, President Topi described his political isolation, saying that the recent debate over the controversial Lustration Law threatened to irreparably damage his political standing and future within his own Democratic Party. Topi lamented the lack of an effective political opposition in Albania, describing the Socialist Party as essentially "invisible" in that role. Topi noted that his efforts in the spring of 2008 to bring the squabbling Socialist and Democratic parties together had ironically resulted in a joint SP-DP effort to diminish the authority and power of the presidency via constitutional amendments adopted in April of 2008. END SUMMARY. A Unique Role -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The Albanian presidency differs in important ways from that of most other parliamentary republics. Elected by the Parliament, the president, although far weaker than the Prime Minister, has the power under the constitution to nominate the Prosecutor General as well as judges to the Supreme and Constitutional Courts. The President can also veto legislation, although the Parliament needs only a simple majority vote to override the veto. Lustration Law Leaves Topi Politically Exposed -------------- - ¶3. (C) Topi told Charge that the current debate over the Lustration Law had left him badly exposed politically. Topi said the ruling Democratic Party (DP) would savage him in the event he vetoes the Lustration Law, claiming he has heard reports that DP activists will be brought in to demonstrate against Topi and pelt his office with rocks. Topi claimed that although he has numerous allies within the DP in Parliament, not one would vote to uphold a veto in the event Topi rejects the lustration law. Instead, Topi said that DP MPs would follow PM Berisha in lock step to override a Topi veto out of fear that Berisha will exclude the MPs from DP party list in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Topi also expressed fear that his opposition to the Lustration Law could cost him the support of one of his main political bases - people persecuted by the Albanian communist regime. Topi repeatedly claimed that in the event he vetoes the Lustration Law the DP would launch "a frontal assault" against him, including a smear campaign to paint him as protecting former communists. "SP and DP Colluded Against Me" -------------- ¶4. (C) Topi said he could not count on support from the opposition leader Edi Rama and his Socialist Party either, which Topi described as timid and in collusion with Berisha to undermine the power of the presidency. Topi recalled how in April of 2008 he brought the SP and DP together to pass much needed constitutional changes, but claimed that PM Berisha and Edi Rama used the opportunity to reduce the power of the presidency and make future presidents more accountable to the ruling party in Parliament. (NOTE: One major constitutional change was to require only a simple majority vote rather than a two-thirds majority vote to elect the next president, thereby giving the majority party in parliament the ability to ram through its own presidential candidate instead of seeking out a compromise candidate acceptable to the opposition, as Topi and previous presidents were. END NOTE). ¶5. (C) Topi lamented the current timidity of the opposition Socialist Party, describing the SP as nearly "invisible" in the role of opposition party. Topi said this unwillingness by the SP to act had increasingly forced him into the role of opposition, something that has brought him into frequent conflict with the Prime Mininster and further undermined Topi's position and future within the Democratic Party. TIRANA 00000009 002 OF 002 In Defense of Independent Institutions -------------- ¶6. (C) Topi said he sees it as his duty as President to defend independent institutions such as the Prosecutor General. Topi said this had repeatedly brought him into conflict with his own party, but added "I think some principles come first." Topi said he would continue to defend the Office of the Prosecutor General against political and media pressure, but said that constitutional amendments passed in 2008 reduced his ability to defend the PG and other independent institutions. ¶7. (C) COMMENT: While PM Berisha was a member of the communist elite, Topi was not even a party member and his family, both immediate and extended, were persecuted by the communists. He finds himself now in an absurd position where if he vetoes the law, Berisha will paint him as a defender of the communists. Topi's political isolation is further compounded by his political ambition. Topi sees himself as a potential successor to Sali Berisha as the next head of the Democratic Party, thus explaining Topi's reluctance to get into a public brawl with the DP over the Lustration Law. Topi is clearly torn between his political ambitions on the one hand and his duties to defend the constitution and Albanian democracy on the other. How he handles the Lustration Law will be his most difficult balancing act yet. CRISTINA