TIRANA, July 23 – Legislation changes that would allow the enrollment of new students in the Magistrates School and the appointment of the graduates, were suspended on Monday after Albania’s opposition rejected the government’s Socialist-led proposals.
While the opposition’s Socialist Movement for Integration called for the initiation of a political dialogue that will solve the gaps created by the justice reform, the Democratic Party instead offered a seven-point package during Monday’s parliamentary session, among which requiring the dissolution of all laws approved without its consensus.
The Socialist government needs a qualified majority of at least 84 parliamentary votes to approve the legislation changes, and it was clear from the empty Democratic Party MPs’ empty seats they would not be granted the changes.
Although SMI MPs were present at the parliament, they also came with suggestions towards the government, such as a dialogue round table among all parliamentary parties.
“The SMI group is ready to work non-stop, postpone parliament holidays, until it works out the functionality issues of the Constitutional Court, High Court and all other problems stemming from the justice reform, until it becomes functioning again.
Head of the DP Lulzim Basha on the other hand, made his seven-points request public after holding a DP parliamentary meeting, during which he said deep interventions will save the justice reform.
“If there is a way to save the justice reform is by going back to the consensus of 22 June and taking measures that will end the illegality of the prosecution, in order to have a functioning Constitutional Court, a politically uninfluenced vetting process and a Magistrates School that will be reliable for the public,” Basha said, among others.
For it to be reliable, Basha added, “those who deliberately seized the system should be held accountable as this is proven to create trust, while the second step is for the SP to provide guarantee that whatever process we choose to handle these 7 points will not be returned and sabotaged again.”
At the end of Monday’s session, head of the Socialist group Taulant Balla did not comment on the points proposed by the DP, while saying for the Magistrates School situation that “we regret that for this issue, which is simply due to a change of schedule and has nothing to do with the important justice reform, the opposition did not come to provide its agreement.”
The Magistrate School competition should normally open in August, so that new students could be selected in October, but, so far, the next academic year looks as if it will turn invalid.
