The head of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, Gazment Bardhi, has used the European Commission report to denounce what he calls a crisis of parliamentarism in Albania. According to him, the Brussels document confirms that the socialist majority is violating the constitutional rights of the opposition and weakening the mechanisms of parliamentary control over the government.
Bardhi accuses the ruling majority of having limited the opposition's institutional space, preventing the establishment of investigative commissions and ignoring the mechanisms that the Constitution provides for control of the executive.
But while the accusations against the majority continue, another question remains unanswered: what has the opposition done specifically to change this situation and how effective have its actions been?
For a long time, the Democratic Party has publicly denounced the way the Assembly is run, but so far it has failed to build a political and parliamentary strategy that would produce tangible results. The majority continues to approve laws and control the parliamentary agenda, while the opposition's opposition often remains at the level of statements, press conferences and clashes in the Assembly hall.
The stance towards parliamentary committees has also highlighted the lack of a consistent line. The opposition has declared a boycott of their proceedings, but has subsequently participated in certain meetings, creating uncertainty about the objectives and effectiveness of this form of protest.
Such behavior raises questions about the seriousness of the Democrats' parliamentary strategy. If the boycott is announced as a means of pressure on the majority, subsequent participation without a clear political outcome weakens its weight and turns it into a more symbolic than effective action.
Of course, the primary responsibility for respecting the constitutional rights of the parliamentary minority lies with the majority. A majority of votes does not exclude the obligation to guarantee parliamentary control and respect for the decisions of the Constitutional Court. However, this does not exempt the opposition from responsibility for the way it exercises its role.
In this sense, the European Commission report cannot be read only as a political argument in favor of Bardhi's accusations against the government. It also serves as an occasion to assess the effectiveness of the opposition, which, despite constant denunciations, has failed to exert sufficient political pressure to change the practices it opposes.
