TIRANA, March 1 – Armando Prenga, a Socialist Party member of parliament representing Lezha County, has resigned after a long fight to keep his seat despite coming under accusation of having criminal convictions and being involved in a high-profile shootout.
The U.S. Embassy, one of the early supporters of decriminalization efforts in Albania’s parliament, greeted the departure as a success.
“Those with criminal records have no place in the parliament, courts, government, or municipalities of a NATO member country that aspires to join the EU,” a press statement issued by the U.S. embassy read. “We encourage the Albanian people and Albanian institutions to be vigilant in preventing criminals from becoming candidates in the June 18 elections. Albanians deserve to have a clean political and judicial system, free from the influence of organized crime and corruption.”
Prenga decided to give up on his parliamentary mandate on Monday, at the same time as the Central Election Commission was discussing the possibility of revoking his mandate, in the framework of the Decriminalization Law.
The General Prosecutor’s office submitted evidence to the CEC, showing that Prenga had failed to disclose information involving his past, including a sentence for “documents forgery” issued by an Albanian court as well as a criminal record registered abroad.
Prosecutors told Central Election Commission that Prenga was sentenced by an Italian court over charges of theft, falsifications, embezzlement, false declarations in 1996-1997 in the city of Milan.
“These data were confirmed by our Italian counterparts,” prosecutors said.
Last week, the Central Election Commission demanded additional information from prosecutors, including the verdicts of the Italian court, however Prenga’s resignation, ended all discussions on the matter.
“No legal disposition foresees a revoked mandate over a fine imposed by a court, as in my case. However, for the sake of my serenity and that of my family, I hereby give up on the mandate assigned to me by my electors and the constitution,” Prenga said in his resignation letter sent to parliament speaker, Ilir Meta.
Prenga came under heavy scrutiny when in September 2015, the 41-year-old MP was arrested and charged with illegal possessions of firearms, causing serious injuries to seven people and making death threats after a fight in his hometown of Lac.
The brawl happened in front of the police station in Kurbin, when Prenga opened fire and injured Tom Cali, a 66-year-old fisherman and six other people.
The conflict between Cali family and Prenga was driven by the property claims of a fishing lagoon in the coastal village of Patok. The Cali family had been using the lagoon for over two decades, however in 2015, Ministry of Agriculture transferred the lucrative rights to a company owned by Prenga’s brother allegedly as a reward for his financial help to the Socialist Party during the 2013 electoral campaign.
The Democratic Party has repeatedly accused Prenga of having a criminal record.
Prenga often referred by the media as “strongman” of Lac was elected Socialist Party MP for Lezha County in 2013. The Socialist Party no longer has any representatives left in that county, largely due to resignations and the decriminalization law, so the junior coalition Socialist Movement for Integration will take the seat, local media reported.
Socialist Party relied heavily on people with criminal ties to win elections in Lezha County, a model it wants to use nationwide in the next elections, the opposition says.
