The Democratic Party (DP) parliamentary group has decided to boycott the plenary session scheduled for Tuesday in the Albanian Parliament. The decision was announced by the head of the Democratic parliamentary group, Gazment Bardhi, who stated that the opposition will not participate in what he calls an illegal session, called in violation of the Parliament's Rules of Procedure and outside the usual day of holding plenary sessions.
According to Bardhi, the session was called outside its normal day of holding, which according to the regulation is Thursday, while the agenda only includes the approval of the minutes and announcements. He emphasized that this cannot be considered an ordinary parliamentary session, but a meeting called for the personal agenda of Prime Minister Edi Rama and Parliament Speaker Elisa Spiropali, without an officially approved and announced agenda.
In his public reaction, Bardhi stated that a parliament without an agenda, without debate and without a voice for the opposition does not function as a democratic institution. According to him, under these conditions, parliament risks becoming an instrument serving government propaganda, failing to fulfill its function of exercising control over the executive and addressing issues that affect citizens.
He also added that, according to the opposition, the Parliament should deal with the real problems of citizens and exercise control over the government, while currently, according to him, it has turned into a mechanism that hinders the investigation of corruption cases and harms the country's integration process into the European Union.
For this reason, the opposition has decided not to become part of what it considers a "parliamentary facade."
