Accused member of High Council of Justice suspends participation

TIRANA, May 15 – Artan Gjermeni, a member of the High Council of Justice, or KLD, who has been continuously accused by ruling government officials of being involved with organized crime, withdrew from the participation in the works of the institution for six months.
The KLD meeting was another scene of the open frictions between the government of the Democratic party-led coalition of Prime Minister Sali Berisha and President Alfred Moisiu who also heads the KLD.
Justice Minister Ilir Rusmajli has openly opposed the President’s management of the KLD. Last week Rusmajli called for an urgent KLD meeting to discuss and expell Gjermeni, who was allegedly has links to the Aldo Bare criminal gang.
Rusmajli was followed in an open debate with Moisiu at the meeting as each tried to impose a different view on the group.
A day earlier, Berisha accused Prosecutor General Theodhori Sollaku of favoring criminals who bribe officials and freeing them these criminals after their being arrested.
In another act, the President did not decree a draft law on the internal auditing of the public sector, one in a series of drafts he has turned back to parliament to re-discuss.
According to the constitution, the President is entitled not to decree a draft law, though it may be created by a majority vote in the parliament, and turn it back for debate.
There has been a long fight between the President and prosecutor general on one side and the government on the other, each accusing the other of manipulation, bribery and corruption.
This feud has meant there is little cooperation between those institutions, including the parliament’s leadership within the ruling coalition, at the time when Albania is seeking integration into NATO and the European Union.