TIRANA, Jan.19 – Parliament restarted its proceedings on Monday evening, while the judicial reform, the electoral reform, and the implementation of the decriminalization law are expected to be the focus of the new legislature.
The Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta declared in his opening speech that the judicial reform will remain the main priority for the new session.
“We will successfully complete the judicial reform by the end of this legislative session” , Meta declared, while adding that “the reform should be transparent and all inclusive.”
Meanwhile, the head of DP parliamentary group Edi Paloka declared that Prime Minister Edi Rama is trying to capture the justice system and therefore is not credible in his cause for tackling corruption.
Paloka also made mention of a technical government and early elections.
“I guarantee the citizens that the opposition will stick to its principles, and if this Parliament doesn’t do the reform, then the new parliament that comes out of the early elections will do all the required reforms. We will continue our efforts to go to early elections as soon as possible and the formation of a technical government,” Paloka declared.
The head of the Socialist Party parliamentary group Gramoz Ruci said that the opposition had misused its speech in parliament in the previous session by not raising concerns of the voters.
“We are the only parliament in the world in which the opposition doesn’t make use of parliamentary instruments,” Ruci declared.
Meanwhile, the ad hoc commission on justice reform has sent the experts’ draft and also the objections of the opposition and the Socialist Movement for Integration to the Venice Commission for evaluation.
A delegation of the Venice Commission consisting of six experts arrived in Tirana on Wednesday. During their two-day mission they will hold talks regarding the different proposals made by the actors involved in the justice reform. The final opinion of the Venice Commission will be ready in February and will be submitted to the Albanian Parliament in March.
