Why do Ulsi Manja's words always generate public debate?

2026-02-07 14:41:00, Opinione Mirgen Pero

A television interview should never be a reason for deliberate misinterpretations, much less for artificial sensationalism. On Thursday, on the show “Top Story”, with Grida Duma, former Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Laws Committee in the Assembly, Ulsi Manja, spoke openly about the justice reform: about its achievements, problems and challenges; about the debate between the powers regarding the salaries of magistrates; about the role of the new justice institutions; about the responsibilities of the bodies that govern the system.

But some media outlets and portals reacted, as always, as if he had said unsaid things, or as if some red line had been crossed regarding justice reform. In fact, there is nothing new in his positions in that interview. From all this reaction, only one legitimate question arises: why all this surprise for positions expressed publicly, institutionally and continuously?

His positions on justice reform are not new. Anyone who follows the work of the Laws Committee and the Assembly knows that he expressed these positions in his reports last fall, and I believe that he will continue to repeat them in future reports of the justice institutions. He said them as Minister of Justice and he says them today as Chairman of the Laws Committee.

He has said and continues to say that quality justice cannot exist without clear and unified standards established by the Supreme Court.

He said that the prosecution is a party to the process and that only the court delivers justice. He said that public attention should not be focused only on SPAK and GJKKO, but also on the courts and prosecutors' offices of general jurisdiction, where the biggest problems of the system are: the backlog of files, delays, lack of professional discipline, double standards and lack of transparency.

He has supported and continues to support SPAK in the fight against corruption and organized crime. He has clearly stated that SPAK's causes are causes of justice and should not be appropriated by politics for day-to-day games. Justice reform has been and remains a right and necessary choice. It is not affected, and any development of it must come from the system itself, in consultation with strategic partners.

But support for reform does not mean silence about the problems. Quite the contrary. Silence harms reform and harms justice. Institutional criticism, reasoned and open, is a sign of responsibility, not a threat to the system.

Therefore, all this noise about an interview raises only one doubt: are we dealing with a misunderstanding or intentional distortion? Because nothing that has been said is new, secret, or said outside the constitutional framework.

His positions are public. He has said it, says it and will say it as often as necessary. Ulsi Manja does not need an Albanian-Albanian translator. Ulsi Manja is a master of his words and will continue to speak as a citizen, as a lawyer, as a member of parliament and as a representative of a majority that has taken on the authorship and guarantee of justice reform.

Justice is a public asset. And public assets are not kept quiet — they are talked about, debated, and improved.

*Mirgen Pero — Media Advisor to former Minister of Justice, Ulsi Manja. /CNA