DP, letter to Spiropal/ "You violated the Constitution, convene the extraordinary session for Xhačka"

2024-08-09 12:56:00, Politikë CNA

DP, letter to Spiropal/ "You violated the Constitution, convene the

The headquarters of the Democratic Party

The Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party has today officially responded to the letter of the Speaker of the Assembly for not convening the Assembly in an extraordinary session to implement without delay the decision of the Constitutional Court regarding the mandate of Olta Xhaçka.

In the letter signed by the Chairman of the Parliamentary Group, Gazment Bardhi, it is underlined that the meeting of the Assembly in an extraordinary session, when requested by no less than one fifth of the deputies, as one of the constitutional subjects. According to the PD, it is mandatory for the Speaker of the Assembly to set the date of the session within the period "3 days from the submission of the request".

"It turns out that you have in fact called an extraordinary session of the Assembly, ordering the "out-of-session meeting of the Council of Legislation", but contrary to the Constitution and the Regulations of the Assembly, firstly, you have scheduled the meeting of the Assembly's bodies beyond the deadline "3 days" which is clearly defined by the Regulation; and secondly, you have not scheduled a meeting of the plenary session." - said in the official response of the DP parliamentary group.

The DP Parliamentary Group considers the meeting of the Legislation Council in this case to be completely unnecessary, bringing to attention that the Constitutional Court itself, in decision no. 55/2024 considered that the Assembly did not act in accordance with the Constitution as long as it submitted the issue of the execution of its decision to the assessment of the Council for Legislation and the Council for Mandates.

"As a rule, the meeting of the Assembly in an extraordinary session, i.e. in an extraordinary plenary session, is preceded by the meeting of other bodies of the Assembly, i.e. parliamentary committees or councils. For this reason, point 2 of Article 42 of the Assembly's Rules of Procedure has established two obligations for the President of the Assembly, for calling an extraordinary session (1) Calling the Assembly meeting no later than 3 days from the submission of the request; (2) Determining an order of committee meetings and the plenary session within this term." – is clarified in the answer.

The DP Parliamentary Group considers the position of the Speaker of the Assembly Elisa Spiropali not only a legal suit, but a serious violation of the Constitution.

"Your position that a provision of the Rules of the Assembly (specifically article 87 of the Rules) makes impossible the implementation of a provision of the Constitution (specifically article 74, point 3 of the Constitution) or even other provisions of the Rules of the Assembly (specifically article 42 , point of the Regulation), seriously violates the principles of the rule of law, the principle of the hierarchy of normative acts and the principle of the supremacy of the Constitution, sanctioned in Article 4 of the Constitution, which stipulates that "The Constitution is the highest law in the Republic of Albania". So, if there were contradictions between the provisions of the Constitution and the Regulations of the Assembly, the provisions of the Constitution prevail and they must be applied directly. In accordance with Article 74 of the Constitution and Articles 42 and 87 of the Rules of the Assembly, you had the constitutional obligation to set an agenda for the meeting of the Legislation Council and the plenary session, within the special deadline set by the Rules of the Assembly "no more later than 3 days from the submission of the request" - says in response the head of the DP parliamentary group Gazment Bardhi.

Reiterating the position that the behavior of the Speaker of the Assembly is unconstitutional, in conclusion the PD Parliamentary Group has requested that Speaker Spiropali implement the Constitution and correctly fulfill the obligations stemming from the constitutional provisions and the Rules of the Assembly, calling the extraordinary session within the deadline defined legal./ CNA