Albanian opposition parliamentarians protest at the government building

TIRANA, Sept. 20 – Albanian opposition parliamentarians on Wednesday protested in front of the government building against a suspension of a private airline company, which they said, was a pressure to the country’s president. The group of the leftist opposition MPs gathered in front of the windows of Prime Minister Sali Berisha’s office accompanied by a truck covered in black with an ironic slogan. Lawmakers for the opposition, led by Tirana Mayor Edi Rama, held the protest a day ahead of Berisha’s introduction to the parliament on the issue. The Albatros airline, owned by President Alfred Moisiu’s nephews, was suspended earlier this month for not paying a debt to a former public institution. The opposition, however, said that was a form of pressure to oblige the president sign a decree on ousting Prosecutor General Theodhori Sollaku which the ruling Democratic Party majority of Prime Minister Sali Berisha have accused of mishandling and abusing with his post. A parliamentary committee issued a 200-page report following a two-month investigation into some 80 allegations against Sollaku, including a damage of US$20 million caused for the payments the government should do to persons who were accused but came out innocent from the cases started from the prosecutor offices. The majority has asked the president to fire him from the post, which he has yet to decide. He has often said he should be left time to really consider the case in detail and according to the laws.
The opposition also condemned another decision of the government to nominate Gazmend Dibra, head of the aviation department who has been at the center of the debate following registration of the phone calls he has had with Albatros owners, at the post of secretary-general of the ministry of transports. Meanwhile prosecutor office in Tirana has started a legal case and has called Dibra as a person who may soon be accused of abuse of post. Dibra, however, did not reply to questioning saying he would like to be accompanied by a lawyer.
In a statement from the press office President Alfred Moisiu turns down the accusation of favoring the Albatros company and also for the alleged abuse the president’s office has made through choosing only that company for his trips abroad.The president’s finances showed that in every case they had made a tender to chose the flying company and in that process they had saved the government budget some 75,000 euros through choosing the cheapest offer.