The SP-PD/ VOA agreement: Basha has been cornered

2024-03-16 09:58:00, Politikë CNA

The SP-PD/ VOA agreement: Basha has been cornered

Lulzim Basha

In Albania, the socialist majority and the group of democratic deputies who support former Prime Minister Sali Berisha concretized today the agreement they had agreed on three days ago, which restores the normalization of parliamentary life in the country after more than 5 months. The opposition blocked the work of the parliament, protesting the rejection of its requests for the establishment of several investigative commissions requested by it, as well as the rejection of the request for the reformation of the Electoral Reform Commission.

For the first issue, the parties announced on Friday afternoon that they had agreed on the establishment of two parliamentary investigative commissions, one for the "Data processing of the TIMS system", where the entries and exits of Albanian citizens are recorded, together with some personal data , and a second commission for "Public Sterilization and Health Check-up Service". In the case of the issue of sterilization of surgical equipment, the Special Prosecutor's Office is in the final phase of the investigation and it remains unclear what new elements may come to light. But the head of the democratic parliamentary group Gazmend Bardhi said that "parliamentary investigative commissions have a different objective from justice. From the investigations so far, for example, evidence has emerged that the concession has been re-implemented in a conflict of interest, and as a result, the contract must be cancelled."

An alternative solution was found for the reformation of the composition of the Electoral Reform Commission, which is co-chaired by deputy Enkeljed Alibeaj, the representative of the group of the DP chairman, Lulzim Basha. The commission's mandate ends next week. After nearly 1 1/2 years of no action, it was reactivated in January, and it doesn't look like it will culminate in any product. Socialists do not seem interested in extending his mandate any further. Some urgent issues, most likely, will be handled with the group of deputies led by Mr. Bardhi, in the new structure agreed between them, which will be set up within the Laws committee, with deputies from both sides to deal with the laws that require three fifths, as well as the important legal interventions that the country needs in its process of joining the European Union.

Cornered by this movement between the socialists and the majority of democratic deputies, Mr. Basha two days ago, in an interview for the Voice of America, spoke about a collaboration between Prime Minister Edi Rama and former Prime Minister Sali Berisha "for their interests, but against the interests of Albanians". Today, during a meeting with the party base in Kurbin, he said that "the revolution was sacrificed. Where is the overthrow of Edi Rama? What is the victory that you are selling today to Kurbini's democrats that you took after you with the promise that you would overthrow Edi Rama? All of them have evaporated like illusions, because they start with a new claim. But the rabbit sleeps somewhere else, in the infamous agreement of the 2008 constitution to keep the monopoly for MP candidates, to control the political system".

Today's agreement was welcomed by the American embassy. In a statement distributed on social networks, it is emphasized that "we urge the deputies to continue to show commitment to democracy for the benefit of the Albanian people".

Even the head of the Delegation of the European Union in Tirana, Silvio Ginzato, also wrote on social networks that "I appreciate the leadership and responsibility shown by the parties in reaching the agreement. The European Union delegation has repeatedly emphasized that a functional assembly is the key to the EU integration process." /VOA