In Albanian politics, there are moments when absence speaks louder than any speech on the floor of the Parliament. This seems to be the case today, in the session where the issue of Belinda Balluku's immunity is expected to be discussed.
Two important names from the majority are missing from the hall: Fatmir Xhafaj and the Speaker of the Assembly, Elisa Spiropali. But while the first absence may pass without much fuss, Spiropali's raises more than one question mark.
Because this is not the first time that the former Speaker of the Parliament seems to be out of sync with the official line of the socialist parliamentary group.
According to sources from the last meeting of the SP group, when the issue of Balluk's immunity was discussed, Spiropali did not side with the majority in protecting the minister from the investigation. In other words, while the majority of the group voted not to "release" immunity, the Speaker of the Assembly chose not to be part of this chorus.
A detail that in any normal parliament would be called an internal political debate. But in Albanian politics, where voting discipline is often stronger than personal conviction, such a deviation sounds almost like heresy.
The irony is that today, when the issue of immunity is expected to be publicly discussed, Spiropali is not in the room at all.
An absence that leaves open a simple question:
is this an elegant way to not vote against the party, or not to vote against conscience?
Because sometimes in politics, the surest way to not betray anyone is to not be there at all when you have to raise your hand.
And in this case, Elisa Spiropali seems to have chosen exactly this path: not to be in the hall, so that no one can say for sure which side she would have voted for.
