The Democratic Party Parliamentary Group has today filed an official request in the Assembly addressed to the Council for Legislation, requesting the dismissal of the Speaker of the Assembly, Niko Peleshi, just one week after his election to this position.
In the document signed by 28 opposition MPs, the DP accuses Pelesh of serious violations of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, as well as of biased behavior in the conduct of parliamentary sessions, in favor of the Socialist Party and Prime Minister Edi Rama.
According to the Democratic Party, in the plenary sessions of September 16 and 18, 2025, Peleshi violated procedural rules and repeatedly denied the rights of opposition MPs, including the right to speak and participate in the debate.
The DP also claims that the September 16 session was called in violation of the minimum deadlines provided for by the Rules of Procedure, while the draft decisions were approved through an accelerated procedure, in an unconstitutional manner, without giving opposition MPs the opportunity to express themselves or oppose the changes to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
Full text:
ASSEMBLY
Democratic Party Parliamentary Group
No.______Prot. Tirana, on ____/____/2025
Subject: Request for the dismissal of the Speaker of the Parliament of Albania, Mr. Niko Peleshi
Addressed to: Council on Legislation
Honorable members of the Council on Legislation,
We, the undersigned deputies, in support of Article 114, point 4 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, submit the request for the dismissal of the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Niko Peleshi, for serious violations of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, in the circumstances outlined below.
Niko Peleshi was elected Speaker of the Assembly of Albania in the plenary session of September 12, 2025. Since the day of the election and until this moment, he has convened and chaired 2 plenary sessions (September 16 and September 18), in which he has carried out active actions in open contradiction with the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, as well as denied the rights of opposition deputies, openly showing political bias in the leadership of the most important body of the constitution - the Assembly of Albania.
Specifically:
Regarding the violations of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly in the session of 16.09.2025
The President of the Assembly, Niko Peleshi, by order no. 1, dated 15.09.2025, has announced the meeting of the Assembly in plenary session, dated 16.09.2025, at 10:00, with the following agenda: “1. Approval of the minutes of the plenary sessions of 12.09.2025. 2. Announcements. 3. Draft decision “On the election of the deputy presidents of the Assembly”. 4. Draft decision “On the election of the secretariats of the Bureau of the Assembly”. 5. Draft decision “On the composition of the Bureau of the Assembly”.”. Also, on the same day, at the same time, the President of the Assembly, Niko Peleshi, by order no. 2, dated 15.09.2025, has announced the meeting of the Assembly in plenary session, dated 16.09.2025, at 17:00, with the agenda: "1. Draft decision "On the election of the chairmen of the permanent committees of the Assembly".".
On 16.09.2025, at 10:00, a plenary session of the Assembly was convened, during which the President of the Assembly, among other things, reported that a request had been submitted by the President of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, Taulant Balla, to change the agenda, including the review of the draft decision “On some changes to the decision of the Assembly no. 166, dated 16.12.2004, “On the approval of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania”, as amended”. The President of the Assembly also reported a request submitted by 30 (thirty) deputies of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, for the review, through an accelerated procedure, of the draft decision “On some changes to the decision of the Assembly no. 166, dated 16.12.2004 “On the approval of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of Albania”, as amended”.
The Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party, regarding these two requests, has previously submitted to the President of the Assembly that the convening of the Assembly meeting and its announcement less than 24 hours after the plenary session is in violation of Article 78, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, as well as Article 27/1, paragraph 3, of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. The latter provides that the convening of the Assembly meeting and the announcement of the agenda shall be made public as usual 7 days in advance, but no later than 2 days before the date set for the plenary session. In this sense, being a meeting called in violation of the Rules of Procedure, it cannot produce any consequences. Also, regarding the review of the draft decision under an accelerated procedure, the opposition has brought to attention that according to Article 83, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, as well as Article 28, paragraph 4, of the Rules of Procedure, the review cannot begin before one week has passed from the date of submission of the request to the plenary session. However, the President of the Assembly continued by putting the two requests to the vote and their approval was decided by a majority vote.
After the approval of the two requests, the President of the Assembly announced the convening of a meeting of the Council for the Regulation, Mandates and Immunity to review the draft decision “On some amendments to the decision of the Assembly no. 166, dated 16.12.2004, “On the approval of the Regulation of the Assembly of the Republic of Albania”, as amended”, and the meeting of the Assembly again at 12:30 to continue the review and approval of the draft decision. During the meeting of the Council on the Rules of Procedure, 5 (five) members, deputies of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, have submitted that these changes, in addition to being made unilaterally, violating for the second time the tradition of approval by inter-party consensus, flagrantly violate the provisions of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, which regulate the manner of calling and notifying the Assembly meeting, as well as the review of draft decisions through an accelerated procedure, no earlier than 1 week from their submission (see Articles 78, point 2; 83, point 2, of the Constitution; Articles 27/1, point 3; 28, point 4; 117 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly).
After the resumption of the plenary session, the deputies of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party have again presented their position regarding the violations of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. The Speaker of the Assembly has announced that there will be no discussions on the draft decision on several amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, which has again been contested by the opposition deputies as a violation of Article 75, paragraph 2, of the Constitution, read together with Articles 46, paragraph 1, 48, paragraph 1, and 117 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, as the right to speak is denied to the deputies who wish to discuss the proposed amendments. This position was also ignored by the Speaker of the Assembly, who continued with the voting and approval of the draft decision on several amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
For all of the above, with his actions and inactions, the Speaker of the Assembly Niko Peleshi, in the session of 16.09.2025, committed the following violations:
The calling of the Assembly meeting, in the sessions of September 16, 2025, in violation of point 3, of Article 27/1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, bringing about the consequence provided for by point 2, of Article 78 of the Constitution - meetings of deputies held without being called according to the Rules of Procedure, bring about no consequence.
Calling a meeting of the Council on Rules of Procedure, Mandates and Immunity in violation of Article 83, point 3 of the Constitution, point 4 of Article 28 and Article 117 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
The inclusion for voting and approval of acts in the Assembly, in violation of the constitutional approval procedure, violating Article 83, point 3 of the Constitution of Albania, point 4 of Article 28 and Article 117 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
Removal of the right of opposition MPs to discuss the content of the draft act, in violation of Article 73 et seq. and Article 117 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
Regarding the violations of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly in the session of 18.09.2025
In accordance with Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, by order of the President of the Assembly, on 18.09.2025, at 10:00, a plenary session was convened, with the agenda of the draft decision “On the approval of the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers”. In accordance with the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the opposition deputies were present in the hall to exercise their constitutional duty and to discuss the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers.
According to Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the political program of the Council of Ministers and its composition are presented to the Assembly by the Prime Minister. The Speaker of the Assembly gave the floor to the Prime Minister, who after several minutes of discussion, took the role of Speaker of the Assembly, interrupted his speech and passed the floor to the “virtual Minister Diella”, in open violation of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure.
This act of cowardice and which violated the constitutional importance of the plenary session of 18.09.2025 was opposed by opposition MPs, through an action that does not violate parliamentary ethics and which is a form of reaction used in all Parliaments of democratic countries (the most recent case in the European Parliament, where MEPs, after rejecting the request for a minute of silence, clapped their hands on their desks as a democratic form of reaction). The fact that the Prime Minister has lost his temper, is tired and feels unworthy of facing the parliamentary debate can never mean that he can set the line of conduct for the MPs of the Albanian Parliament, or can come to the plenary session and behave as he wishes in violation of the Constitution.
The plenary session hall cannot be transformed by a scheming Prime Minister into a "puppet theater" and the opposition's reaction was to protect the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. The Prime Minister's threat at the beginning of his speech that the opposition deputies must do or behave as he wants, or else the Prime Minister will not allow the parliamentary debate, is unacceptable and seriously violates the constitutional order of a Parliamentary Republic.
Immediately after the Prime Minister's discussion was interrupted, not by the opposition's interventions, but by a mocking video of a virtual message, the Speaker of the Assembly, although the floor had previously been given to the Prime Minister who was supposed to continue with the presentation of the political program, gave the floor to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, Taulant Balla, who, after threatening the opposition deputies with the removal of the right to discuss, in accordance with Article 49, point 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, requested a 5-minute interruption of the session. The request was for a matter of procedure, pursuant to Article 49, point 1, which states that: "On matters of procedure, the floor is given immediately. Matters of procedure are ……., requests for the interruption or postponement of the plenary session or discussions…”.
After the procedural speech of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, according to point 3 of Article 49, which expressly states: “3. In these cases, in addition to the proposer who discusses for no more than 3 minutes, a speaker in favor and a speaker against have the right to discuss for no more than 2 minutes each and a decision is made by open vote by the Assembly with a show of hands.”, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party Gazment Bardhi requested to discuss as a speaker against for 2 minutes regarding the proposal made. In violation of point 3 of Article 49 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the Chairman of the Assembly did not give him the floor and interrupted the session without respecting the requirements of this provision, and at its conclusion he publicly stated that he would give the floor for procedural speech immediately upon the resumption of the session. The procedural request was registered in the electronic system of the Assembly of Albania.
At the resumption of the session, with a scenario that was destructive for the Assembly and prepared to prevent parliamentary debate, in violation of points 1 and 3 of Article 49 of the Rules of Procedure, instead of immediately giving the floor to the Chairman of the DP Parliamentary Group, as the Rules of Procedure require, the Speaker of the Assembly again gave the floor to Prime Minister Edi Rama. To oppose this denial of the right to speak according to the Rules of Procedure of the opposition deputies, even before the Prime Minister had taken the floor, some of them stood up to demand respect for the Rules of Procedure and the right to speak on the procedure, which according to Article 49, point 1 of the Rules of Procedure is granted immediately.
Instead of giving the opposition the right to speak on a point of order, the Speaker of the Assembly passed the floor on a point of order to the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, Taulant Balla, an action that contradicts Article 49 of the Rules of Procedure, because the same person cannot take the floor on a point of order twice in a row. In flagrant violation of Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, the Speaker of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, proposed that the Prime Minister not present the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers to the Assembly, that the deputies be deprived of the right to speak, the right to ask questions and that there be no debate on the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers, ordering a direct vote.
The President of the Assembly, in violation of Article 97 of the Constitution and points 3 and 4 of Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, which specify that: “3. After the presentation of the political program, each deputy and parliamentary group has the right to submit questions to the Prime Minister. 4. After the answers to the questions, the President of the Assembly declares the opening of the debate on the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers. The time of the debate is determined by the Conference of Speakers, in accordance with Article 48 of these Rules of Procedure. At the end of the debate, after the speeches of the heads of the parliamentary groups, the Prime Minister has the right to speak for no more than 10 minutes. The voting by the Assembly on the composition and political program of the Council of Ministers is carried out in accordance with Article 58 of these Rules of Procedure”, opened the voting process and put to the vote the draft decision “On the approval of the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers”.
For all of the above, with his actions and inactions, the Speaker of the Assembly Niko Peleshi, in the session of 18.09.2025, committed the following violations:
In violation of Article 49 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, it has twice denied the Chairman of the DP Parliamentary Group the right to speak on a procedural matter, which according to the Rules is granted immediately upon request. While it has granted this right to the Chairman of the SP Parliamentary Group twice in a row, showing marked bias in the conduct of the session.
In violation of Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, it did not allow the presentation of the political program and the composition of the Council of Ministers by the Prime Minister before the voting process;
In violation of Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, it has denied the right of deputies to ask questions before the voting process;
In violation of Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, no parliamentary debate was allowed, where each MP could discuss for 10 minutes, before the voting process;
In violation of Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, it has denied the right of the chairmen of parliamentary groups to discuss at the end of the parliamentary debate;
In violation of Article 97 of the Constitution and Article 110 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, it has denied the right of deputies to vote only after they have exercised the right to debate.
He has knowingly allowed the vote to be held in violation of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure, rendering it invalid.
In conclusion: The Constitution of Albania has provided that the Assembly elects and dismisses its President. The Assembly is organized and functions according to the rules of procedure approved by the majority of all members (see Article 75 of the Constitution). Meanwhile, the Rules of Procedure of Albania have provided that the request for the dismissal of the President of the Assembly is submitted to the Council of Legislation, which presents the relevant report in a plenary session. The request must be made in writing and in a motivated manner for the reasons provided for in the Constitution, by no less than 28 deputies (see Article 114).
The Speaker of the Assembly, with his actions and inactions, in this short period of leading the Assembly of Albania, has demonstrated a complete lack of commitment to exercising his function in accordance with the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, as well as behaving as a subordinate of the Prime Minister, who de facto also took charge of the session of 18.09.2025, sometimes ordering who would speak, sometimes ordering which MP would speak about procedure, and sometimes instructing the Speaker of the Assembly on the procedure he should follow.
Thus, the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Niko Peleshi, has acted in serious violation of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, defiling parliamentarism and undermining the democratic functioning of the Assembly. Under these conditions, the Council for Legislation should immediately initiate the procedure for her dismissal from office.
Therefore, considering the above, in support of Article 75, point 1 of the Constitution of Albania and Article 114, point 4 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, we request the immediate dismissal from office of the Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Niko Peleshi.
Thanking you for your understanding,
DEPUTY MEPS:
