Monday, September 3, 2012

New Parliamentary session opening
03/09/2012


New Parliamentary session opening
After a one month break, the Albanian Parliament started working again. The MPs sat on the Parliament floor for the first session of Season 7 of Legislation XVIII.

Parliament Speaker Jozefina Topalli emphasized in her opening speech that this is a very special session that will mark the 100th anniversary of independence, stating that “reforms” will be the key word of this legislation.

“The opposition made us fail passing the immunity lifting law. Passing laws of great importance is a task established by the EU. The Albanians deserve the EU candidate status and politics must come together and vote these important laws”, Topalli declared.

The Head of the Socialist Parliamentary Group, Gramoz Ruci, declared that this session started with a new President who took three politically based decision only in the first month.

“The President failed when appointed as Vice Chairman of the High Council of Justice a party militant with an indecent performance. He failed when he appointed on the top of the Secret Service a person with a dark past, and even when he appointed as head of the Marine a military man who had graduated for infantry”, Ruci declared.

The SP Parliamentary Group leader launched other accusations against the majority, claiming that their real concern is not the EU candidate status for Albania, but holding their grip to power for as long as possible. He mentioned a series of reforms, part of the EU 12 recommendations, and that have not been realized by the government. Ruci appealed the majority to vote the amends proposed by the opposition.

“We have no results for the property conflicts, the war against crime and corruption and the judiciary. It all comes down to voting them just for closing the debate for our initiative. Who wants independent justice and unbiased judges must vote our amends”, Ruci underlined.

The DP Parliamentary Group Leader, Astrit Patozi, accused the opposition and its leader of blocking important reforms for the country, stating that the majority will not vote the constitutional amends proposed by the opposition. He invited the SP to cooperate for removing immunity on October 6th.

“We will not vote the nonsense that was filed. We will implement any procedural norm. We cannot take seriously something that Edi Rama has brought to Parliament as a pretext for delaying the integration reform, so that he can block the status again”, Patozi declared.

The main challenges of this session will be the immunity lifting for high rank officials, the reformation of the Central Election Commission, the continuity of the parliamentary agenda with other issues left suspended by the previous session, and also the draft law “for the Supreme Court” and the approximation of the Albanian legislation with the European one.

Nishani: Parties must cooperate

The Albanian President, Bujar Nishani, gave a congratulatory speech for the opening of the seventh session of the 18th legislation.

“The Albanian Parliament is the place of debate and competition; the place where different views and alternatives are presented, and when decisions are taken with consensus. We are about to celebrate the 100th anniversary for the creation of the Albanian state, a key moment in our history. This is a moment that coincides with a path that we have taken many years ago and that everyone considers as the only alternative: the European integration”, Nishani declared.

The message published on the Presidential official web page states that the will and desire to have our country as a candidate for joining the European Union demands real contributions.

“I invite the political forces to cooperate in order to accomplish the important tasks provided by the 12 EU priorities, before the publishing of the EC progress report about Albania. I want to emphasize the significance that the commitment of all MPs has in limiting or lifting the immunity for high rank officials, as the establishment of a new legal and political standard which is necessary for a country and society that aspires the European values of the rule of law”, Nishani underlined.

The President reminded that the much wanted political consensus, the dialogue, tolerance and aimed cooperation would free the way to a normal electoral process that will be held next year.

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