The Socialist Government is in a hurry to dismiss the President whilst still in control of a rubber-stamp Parliament. The motion to dismiss was formally submitted by General Secretary of the Socialist Party Taulant Balla and is backed by 55 members of parliament. The filing of which comes as a result of a lengthy and acrimonious public battle between the President and the Government. Previous efforts of the Socialist Party to dismiss the President resulted unsuccessful.
The Albanian Constitution allows for such motions to be brought forward only in instances when the president has acted in breach of constitutional norms or committed crimes of a grave nature. In their motion to dismiss, members of the Socialist Party argue that actions taken by the President represent breaches of constitutional norms.
The president is accused of inciting political and civil conflict throughout the electoral campaign, an act which allegedly resulted in militants taking to the streets and terrorizing citizens. In particular, the President is accused of inciting an armed conflict in Elbasan which ultimately resulted in the death of a citizen. The President is also accused of scaring voters through statements such as “their hands will be cut” and encouraging the public to “take justice in their own hands”.
Through these accusations, the Socialist Party seeks to assert that the President’s course of conduct represents a breach of principle of political impartiality. As further evidence, the signatories to the motion for dismissal point to the fact that the President has shown public support for opposition parties during the elections whilst verbally attacking public officials and ambassadors of foreign states.
The President has dismissed the validity of the motion, labelling the efforts of the Socialists as “yet another attempt taken by the party-state to distract attention from the real issues with which the country is faced”
The Procedure
Dismissing the President is not an easy feat. After such a motion has been submitted, the speaker of parliament together with the chairmen of various parliamentary groups must decide whether to initiate the proceedings for dismissal. The motion would then be reviewed by a legal commission, which must in turn agree to invoke a commission of Inquiry in order to gather evidence regarding the alleged facts. After the commission has published a report regarding the validity of the motion, the parliament may choose to ratify the motion. A total of 84 votes are needed to ratify the motion. Once ratified, its validity will be examined by the Constitutional Court.
Running on a tight schedule
In order for its efforts to succeed, the Socialist Party must act quickly. If such a motion were to be submitted after the next parliament has been invoked, ratifying the motion would require bipartisan support, given that in the recent parliamentary elections the Socialist Party secured less than the required 84 seats. It is very questionable whether such a motion would find support amongst democrats. In the current parliament, the Socialist Party enjoys the benefits that come along with an opposition which has been extremely supportive of its legislative efforts.
The biggest obstacle which the Socialist Party faces in trying to ratify the motion is contained in section 4.6 of the Law “For the organization and functioning of Commissions of Inquiry”. Therein it is stated that such commissions may be invoked no later than 4 months from the date in which the mandate of the current parliament is to expire. Given that Parliament will be dissolved on the 9th of September 2021, the commission of inquiry must be invoked before the 9th of May.
Socialists on track to ratify motion for dismissal
On the 6th of May, the legal commission, having already assembled and reviewed the facts of the case, presented parliament with a request to Invoke a commission of Inquiry, a request which will in turn be reviewed by parliament on the 7th of May. The legal commission rejected Mr. Meta’s request for a hearing, which would have given him a chance to submit his objections before the legal commission. Mr. Meta requested that the hearing be held on the 10th of May. Granting such a request would have effectively meant that the commission of inquiry could not have been invoked before the 9th of May.
In all probability, the Socialist Party will manage to ratify the motion. It will then be up to the Constitutional Court to decide the legality of the motion, both in terms of substance and procedure. Although the Socialist Party has tried to ensure that the procedural aspects surrounding the motion were completed within the deadlines mandated by law, the swiftness with which this process was concluded may raise doubts as to whether the decisions of the various commissions were well-founded.
