A clash that began with "jokes" and ended with nervousness permeated Prime Minister Edi Rama's Sunday.
It all started with a statement by Prime Minister Rama on the podcast “FLASIM”, where he recounted an episode involving BKH agents who had arrived at the Prime Minister’s Office to closely monitor the execution of the decision of the Special Court against Corruption and Organized Crime (GJKKO), which had suspended Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku from office. Referring to the agents as “brave men who didn’t leave their guns out”, Rama stated that they had clashed with the Republic Guard after they refused to enter the Prime Minister’s Office premises without their pistols.
"I will not follow the perverse logic of sentencing based on evidence, not even in this case, but I will remain convinced that these two extremely disturbing pieces of evidence do not prove that the protagonists of the independence of justice have lost their minds and have become convinced that they are the state, the law and justice, like the work of some brave men from the BKH, about whom I have heard many strange things, who had come to the Council of Ministers building one day and did not want to leave the door open according to the high security regulations of the Republic Guard," Rama said in the podcast.
After a few hours, in an official reaction, the National Bureau of Investigation clarified that the episode the head of government spoke about had occurred on November 20 of this year. According to the BKH, three of its investigators went to the Prime Minister's Office to execute the security measure of suspension from duty, assigned by the GJKKO for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Belinda Balluku.
The BKH announced that, “at the internal entrance of the Council of Ministers, the investigators were informed by the Republic Guard that, according to the regulations in force, entry with firearms into the internal premises of the institution is not allowed”. Further, the statement states that one of the investigators requested clarification on the manner and place of storage of the weapons, while the Guard directed them to leave them in special security lockers. “After verifying that the storage environment was safe and monitored by cameras, the investigators deposited the weapons and continued normally with the performance of procedural actions. We emphasize that at no time was there a debate or clash between the BKH investigators and the Republic Guard”, the official response states.
Immediately after the BKH statement, Prime Minister Edi Rama reacted again, emphasizing that he had not criticized the investigators for carrying weapons without a permit, but for what he described as ethical and legal ignorance, which, according to him, had pushed them to seek to enter the Prime Minister's office armed, "as they themselves say in the statement." Rama added that, according to him, this was not an isolated case, but part of a broader problem related to the functioning of the new justice institutions.
The exchanges of statements at a distance could not hide the nervous tone of Edi Rama, who on the same day welcomed the decision of the members of the Constitutional Court who followed his advice on the decision taken two days earlier, while criticizing the “ethics” of the BKH employees on the same issue. It has now become common for Edi Rama to defend those segments of justice that suit his work and attack those that disturb his peace.
Although he tries all the time to give the impression of a government leader who does not comment on the decisions of the courts and justice, he and Sali Berisha eagerly await the opportunity to comment, bully or call prosecutors and judges names. As was the case today, when he had to explain twice on a Sunday how the BKH officers were doing their job.
Meanwhile, a prime minister should not even deal with gossip in the corridors. If he has any objections to their access to state offices, he should simply file an official complaint and pursue the matter through legal channels. And not make jokes on podcasts, as if he is talking about injustices committed on a television show and not about one of the hottest issues in Albanian justice and politics.
