The majority's great momentum to block the suspension of senior officials by the courts seems to be quietly fading. Exactly a week ago, on February 16, the majority urgently filed a bill to prohibit SPAK and the Special Court from suspending members of the government and several other senior state officials from office.
The draft proposed by Prime Minister Edi Rama himself, the chairman of the SP parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, and the chairman of the Laws Committee, Ulsi Manja, amended Article 242 of the Criminal Procedure Code by granting immunity from the suspension measure to members of the government, the Prime Minister, the President, the Ombudsman, the chairman of the Supreme Audit Office, and members of the Constitutional Court.
But after the urgent filing, it seems that the majority has lifted the handbrake. A source from within the majority told Kapital that the directive from above is to keep the draft law on the shelf for now and not advance it with its approval, initially in the Parliamentary Committees and then in the session.
But what is the reason for the majority's momentum to put a limit on the SPAK and the courts being so quickly exhausted? The reason is another limit, this time imposed on the majority itself.
As soon as the Socialist Party officially submitted the draft law to the Assembly, clear messages arrived in Tirana from Brussels. The European Union cannot grant privileges to the Albanian government that it does not grant to its own officials.
In Brussels, the judiciary is free to investigate, search and even arrest MEPs and senior officials of the European Parliament or the European Commission. None of them enjoy any immunity from justice, so Brussels cannot grant this privilege to officials of a country aspiring to join the European Union.
The message to Edi Rama and the majority has been clear; Legal restrictions that block justice institutions are a red line that sets back the EU membership process.
Not only that. At the same time, the majority has been warned that Brussels' messages on these issues will no longer be confidential, but will be announced publicly.
This direct pressure seems to have been the reason why Edi Rama is quietly withdrawing from his firm.
Editorial
