Several civil society organizations sent a public request on Tuesday to the Speaker of the Assembly, Niko Peleshi, and the MPs who are members of the Council for Mandates, Regulations and Immunity to review "without delay or political interference" the request of the Special Prosecution Office for the arrest of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Belinda Balluku.
The immediate meeting of the Council is considered by the organizations to be a full respect of the principle that "no one is above the law" and guarantees "the normal, transparent and impartial functioning of parliamentary procedures". The appeal of civil society comes after Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that the Assembly would put the issue of Balluk's immunity on the 'Greek calendars'.
The signatory organizations 'Social Justice', 'Civic Stability', the Albanian Helsinki Committee, SCiDEV, 'Tek Bunkeri', 'Hana' Center and 'My City' emphasize that through the public appeal to the Assembly they are based on their role "in protecting the constitutional order and public interest" and are based on the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, which have regulated the issue with procedure and deadlines and not "as a space for political debate on criminal matters in substance."
In this context, organizations raise concerns about the endangerment of these constitutional procedures and their turning into an object of delay, relativization or political instrumentalization.
"Any unjustified procedural delay, any deviation from the procedure set out in the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, as well as any political instrumentalization of a criminal complaint, risks violating the principle of equality before the law, the constitutional obligation to guarantee the rule of law and public trust in the functioning of democratic institutions," the public letter states.
The socialist majority has been blocking the review of SPAK's request since December, initially with the justification of giving the Council members time to familiarize themselves with the voluminous file and then with the expectation of the Constitutional Court's decision on another issue.
But for civil society organizations, the Assembly cannot treat constitutional procedures as 'political elections'.
"The representative mandate cannot be used to create procedural obstacles or a perception of protection against anyone facing justice. Transparency, accountability and respect for procedural rules are the foundation of public trust in democratic institutions," their position emphasizes.
Balluku is the first case where such a senior government official has been indicted by SPAK on charges of violating equality in tenders worth hundreds of millions of euros and continues to remain in office, while the prime minister has taken over her legal and public defense.
The Speaker of the Assembly has refused to convene the meeting even after the requests of the opposition members of the Council, while postponing the consideration of SPAK's request beyond 3 months could lead to its automatic rejection, according to the provisions of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure. /BIRN/
