TIRANA, Feb. 17, 2022 – Albania’s Constitutional Court has ruled that President Ilir Meta has not committed “serious violations” of the country’s constitution and thus he is to stay on as head of state despite the parliament’s decision to impeach him, according to a decision made public on the court’s website shortly before midnight Wednesday.
In a first ever move of its kind, the ruling Socialist Party decided to remove the president from office in June last year, benefiting from the opposition’s boycott of parliament and using substitute MPs to get 105 out 140 to dismiss the president.
Shortly after midnight, the president’s spokesperson issued a statement saying: “There is zero surprise for the Presidency! This case should have never even been started.”
The ruling Socialist Party accused the president of serious violations of the constitution, arguing the head of state was involved in the April 25 parliamentary elections, campaigning for the opposition and inciting “hate and violence,” according to arguments sent to the court by the SP parliamentary group leader, Taulant Balla.
As per Albania’s constitution, the president is largely an honorary figure meant to represent the unity of the people and not be an active political figure, but most presidents have been political and pushed the boundaries of what is defined by the constitution, constitutional experts have noted.
During the April electoral campaign, Meta accused the government of using money from criminal groups to buy votes and of working to distort the will of the voters.
The president’s legal team challenged the entire parliamentary procedures that led to the Constitutional Court trial, saying things were done in a hurry without respecting proper procedures so the previous parliament, which the elected opposition had abandoned, could vote on the impeachment to get the needed numbers of votes.
Meta’s original five-year mandate ends in four months. He says he will not seek a second term.
No president in modern Albania has ever been impeached by parliament and this is the first case of its kind to come to the Constitutional Court, which has had difficulties in recent years to reach a quorum due to the justice reform’s vetting process.
Meta is a former Socialist prime minister who split from today’s ruling Socialist Party and created his own party which has then been in power in coalitions with both the main opposition Democratic Party as well as the ruling Socialists of incumbent Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Meta is one of Albania’s most seasoned politicians and a key figure during the post-communist transition. He says he will return to his Socialist Movement for Integration party, currently led in opposition by his wife, Monika Kryemadhi, as soon as his presidential mandate ends.
