Erion Veliaj has also appealed to the Constitutional Court President Bajram Begaj's decree for early local elections in the Municipality of Tirana on November 9. He calls the decree unconstitutional, arguing that the mandate of the Mayor is not personal, but of the sovereignty of the citizens of Tirana.
Veliaj, among other things, is asking the Constitutional Court to protect democracy. He had previously appealed the decision of the Council of Ministers and the Municipal Council to dismiss him as unfounded in law and the Constitution.
"The presidential decree is contra Constitutionem (unconstitutional). The mandate of the Mayor is not a personal mandate, but an expression of the sovereignty of the citizens of Tirana. The Constitutional Court should act with the immediate protection of representative democracy," it says, among other things, in this appeal filed with the Court of Justice.
The complaint also explains the incompetence of the head of state for the decree, calling it "non grata".
"The Presidential Decree setting the date of the elections in the Municipality of Tirana was issued at a time when the constitutional competence of the President had not yet arisen. Article 115 of the Constitution does not grant the President a general and unconditional competence to call elections whenever a local body is dismissed by the Council of Ministers; on the contrary, it clearly and cumulatively links this competence to two circumstances: (i) failure to exercise the right to appeal within the 15-day period; or (ii) the dismissal being upheld by the Constitutional Court. In the absence of these conditions, the competence of the President is non nata – not yet legally arisen," it states, among other things.
Through the appeal filed by his legal representatives, Veliaj states that this decree and dismissal in violation of the law and the Constitution creates a dangerous precedent for the future.
