Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama and Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku. Photo: LSA.
The ruling Socialist Party’s parliamentary group on Monday said it will not support a requests from the Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime, SPAK for parliament to remove the immunity of former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku, which would allow her arrest.
The vote is expected to take place on March 12. Since the ruling Socialists hold 83 seats out of 140, the vote on the lifting of her immunity is expected to be a formality.
Balluku was charged by SPAK with interfering with public procurement infrastructure procedures in seven road construction cases in October last year. She denies wrongdoing.
MP Ulsi Manja, a former Minister of Justice, who led the Socialist parliamentary group meeting on Monday, said there were no grounds for detention or house arrest. She described SPAK’s arguments for Balluku’s arrest as unfounded because she no longer exercises duties within the government.
“The risk of evidence being destroyed was not proven with real facts, but are considerations that are based on the former ministerial position that Balluku held,” Manja said.
Regarding evidence presented by SPAK about pressure on witnesses by powerful individuals and officials from her office, Manja also said the prosecutors had not proved this claim.
The Socialist Party said banning her from movement abroad was sufficient.
After the party had declared its position, party leader and Prime Minister Edi Rama praised her work as Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, adding that she had been “sentenced without trial”.
“They have sentenced her without a trial, sentenced her without giving her the right to defend herself in court over what she is accused of, and they want to see Belinda Balluku in prison, without even waiting for the courtroom door to open,” Rama said.
A local democracy and transparency group, Civic Resistance, condemned this position, considering it undue pressure on the justice system. “The political decision announced by Prime Minister Rama preceded the individual decision of the deputies at Thursday’s session, creating the perception of direct pressure on the justice process,” a press release said.
The head of the opposition Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, at a press conference said that Rama had “closed the doors of EU integration” for Albania and called on the public to protest outside parliament on March 12, when the vote is expected to take place.
In November last year, SPAK requested Balluku’s suspension from duty, and in December called for her immunity to be lifted to allow for her arrest. Her suspension from duty was immediately challenged by the government before the Constitutional Court, which returned her temporarily to duty but decided to definitely dismiss her in February.
For months, the Socialist Party has refused to adopt a clear position about her immunity. However, Rama has been consistently vocal in his support for Balluku.
After the Constitutional Court decided to dismiss her, the ruling party proposed a law that would grant immunity to ministers and other top officials from suspension by courts.
