The powers of the President of the Republic have been eroded over the years by all governments. No one has been interested in the high state position enjoying the full powers given to it by the original 1998 Constitution.
Sometimes with direct interventions and sometimes with hidden interventions under the alibi of Constitutional changes, today the institution of the President has become symbolic, without the power to legally oppose the ruling majority.
But, with President Bajram Begaj, even the little bit of symbolism that had survived is being lost, and the loss is being revealed to the public in the most mundane way possible.
Such is the case at the 50th anniversary conference of the Spelling Congress. The ceremony brought together Edi Rama and Bajram Bega, among others.
Protocol requires that in such cases, speakers address the key figures in the room before speaking. Rama avoided Begaj, concluding only with 'Beloved present'.
But this did not bother Bajram Begaj. The moment he took the floor, the President started it with 'Dear Prime Minister' and then continued with the other attendees.
The 'incident', if it can be called such, went unnoticed, as completely normal. However, he may very well show a form of master-servant relationship in the Prime Minister-Presidential axis.
Even before this happened, President Begaj was accused of not being up to the task. In his fourth month in office, he has never gone outside the line of the majority's position, nor has he returned any of its laws or decisions.
There have not been many tests of this nature, but one such was the attack of Iranian hackers, which brought out the laundry of the entire country. This was not enough for Begaj to call the National Security Council.
The President remained silent for days, until he convened the Council 3 months after the attack broke out. Some may rightly suspect that the time he took was necessary to get Edi Rama's approval for this.
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