Albania's prime minister proposes to protect ministers under criminal investigation. Opposition: “It's nothing but an attempt by Rama to protect himself”
Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Photo: Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP / Profimedia Images
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama said his government would change the law to protect ministers from suspension pending a criminal investigation, prompting the opposition to accuse him of trying to protect himself and undermining the independence of the judiciary, according to Reuters.
In November, a court suspended Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku after she was indicted by Albania's anti-corruption prosecutors, known as SPAK, for alleged interference in an infrastructure contract awarding process, charges she denies.
The case has sparked a conflict between SPAK, which has asked Parliament to lift Belinda Balluku's immunity so it can order her arrest, and Prime Minister Edi Rama, who has accused what he calls an excess of judicial power, particularly with regard to pre-trial detention.
Albania aims to join the European Union by 2030, but the bloc has said the country needs to do more to fight crime and corruption.
Rama's Socialist Party, which won a fourth consecutive term last year, holds a comfortable majority in parliament, and it is currently unclear if and when the legislature will vote to lift the immunity of Belinda Balluku, a former infrastructure minister and close ally of the prime minister.
“When a minister is dismissed, not only a person is removed, but the whole activity of the institution is affected”, Edi Rama told the parliamentarians of his party, on Monday, announcing the intention to change the law.
The opposition has organized several protests in the capital Tirana in recent months, demanding the resignation of Belinda Balluku. On Monday, its representatives stated that Rama is trying, through the proposed changes, to influence the judicial proceedings in his favor.
“This is nothing more than an attempt by Rama to protect himself, affecting both the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers in the state … because behind Belinda Balluku and the facts attributed to her is Rama,” the main opposition Democratic Party said in a statement to Reuters.
