The leader of the Alliance for Albanians, Arben Taravari, has signalled he would return to the Government - but only under new terms. "It's humiliating to go back in through the door you walked out of," he said, yet he did not rule out a return if a new deal is reached.

According to Taravari, any new cooperation would require "at least guarantees for the start of EU negotiations and constitutional changes." In other words, he isn't saying "no" - he's setting a price. And the price, as always in calculations like these, isn't expressed in principles but in concrete conditions to be met before anyone sits back down at the same table.

Parties come and go from governments, and citizens watch these movements like a weather forecast - they know a change is coming, they just don't know when. The question Taravari didn't answer is the most important one: what has changed since the moment he walked out, beyond the calculation that a return might now pay off?

Constitutional changes and EU negotiations - these are big words to be placed as a condition on the table for coalition haggling. When the issues that decide a whole country's future become a trump card in negotiations over ministerial seats, the citizen has every right to ask whether this is about vision or just about position. Until then, Taravari's "maybe" is exactly that - a maybe, with a price list attached.