TIRANA, Oct. 13 – Albania’s ruling Socialist Party says it will approve two of the three parliamentary inquiry commissions requested by the opposition.
Alleged abuses during the general elections and the construction of three waste incinerators will now officially be investigated by parliament.
But the Socialists announced they would not support an investigation of how the Albanian state ended up owing nearly 120 million euros after losing an international arbitration to Francesco Becchetti, an Italian businessman and former anti-government TV station owner.
The first of the two approved commissions will investigate alleged “misuse of state administration resources, as well as the erasure of the border between the state and the ruling SP for electoral purposes in the April 25, 2021 elections,” according to the main opposition Democratic Party request.
The second commission will look into the legality of administrative actions followed by the executive bodies in the procedures for the construction and administration of urban incinerator waste treatment plants in Tirana, Elbasan and Fier.
“In Friday’s session we will approve the request for the election investigation, and we are continuing the talks for the draft decision on the investigations against the incinerators and we will reject the request for the so-called Becchetti case,” said Taulant Balla, head of the SP Parliamentary Group.
The Socialists pointed to a letter sent by the state attorney which noted that the investigation on Becchetti would be against Albania’s interests.
“It is shameful that the Socialist Party equates the interest of Albanians with the interest of Edi Rama and some of his officials,” said Alfred Rushaj, head of the DP Parliamentary Group.
The opposition points out that it was threatening private messages to Becchetti by Socialist officials that led to the Italian businessman winning the arbitration case in court.
After years of failing to start work on the project, the Albanian government took away Becchetti’s concession to build the Kalivaç hydropower project in 2014 and in October 2017 the government gave it to a Turkish company.
Another of Becchetti’s businesses in Albania, Agon Channel, a television station with a firm anti-government bent, was closed following an investigation by authorities on its funding, which led to charges of tax evasion and fraud for Becchetti.
He is still wanted by Albanian authorities and faces a criminal trial in Albania, although a court in the UK, where Becchetti lives, refused to give permission for extradition.
