TIRANA, March 2 – Prime Minister Edi Rama on Monday took part in the first court session of a lawsuit he had filed against Edi Paloka, head of the main opposition Democratic Party parliamentary group, whom Rama has accused of slander and defamation.
Paloka has repeatedly said at the parliament sessions at the parliament sessions that Rama has close links with the criminal world, which controls his actions, taking the country in a dangerous direction.
While similar suits have been filed in the past, it is unusual for the prime minister or other high profile politicians to attend in person.
Rama responded taking the case to the court and said he would be present in all the trial sessions.
The session judge asked whether the two parties would settle. But both Rama and Paloka said they had nothing to reconcile between them.
Paloka was not present but was represented by his lawyer.
Rama has pledged that if the court finds any possible evidence of Paloka’s accusation against him, he would immediately resign and let the justice do its work.
He has said that time when politics spread rumors in vain just to mystify their supporters has passed and they should be held accountable for their words.
Rama has also accused Democrats’ Secretary General Arben Ristani of the same thing, saying that practice should be over and everything should be reported to the justice if there is proof.
“That is nothing personal. That is not an accusation due to a disagreement between a person and another one. But that is a necessity for the public to learn the truth, just the truth and nothing else. If the party that obliged me to go to the court’s doors proves anything from all what they have said, the public should know because we are speaking of Albania’s prime minister. On the contrary, the public should also learn if the accusing party has raised such accusation to violate the integrity of prime minister’s institution,” he said.
Rama said that “it is time to give an end to the politics of blackmail, the politics of mud slinging, politics of denigration and daily mockery with the public opinion.”
