Albania's Parliament Blocks Court Review of Former Minister's Immunity

Ruling Socialists voted against sending the issue of the immunity of the ex-minister to the Constitutional Court, as the Court had demanded.

Albania former Minister of Foreign Affairs Olta Xhacka. Photo: LSA

Albania’s parliament voted on Thursday to reject a Constitutional Court review of the immunity of former foreign minister Olta Xhacka.

Ruling Socialist MPs votes against sending the case to the Constitutional Court, as some opposition MPs had asked, after it was revealed that the then minister’s husband had been granted “strategic investor” status by the government.

The court was supposed to consider whether Xhacka had violated the Constitutional article that prohibits officials from benefiting from public goods.

Speaking in parliament, Xhacka accused the media of defamation and denied using her influence to benefit from anything. “One thing I can say for sure, I have not exercised my influence to gain anything … they are simply untrue slanders,” Xhacka said.

After the vote, opposition MP, Gazment Bardhi said the decision by parliament was “undermining democracy”.

After the governing Socialists rejected an initial opposition request to send the matter to the court, the court responded by ordering parliament to send it the matter for adjudication.

Parliament has not obeyed and the matter has been pending since January last year.

After the government awarded a 30-year lease for a beach on the lucrative southern coast in March 2022, it turned out that the beneficiary company was owned by the husband of Xhacka, then Foreign Minister.

The opposition asked to have Xhacka’s mandate as MP declared null and void, since the constitution bans parliamentarians from obtaining publicly owned properties for themselves or their family members. Xhacka denies this is the case.

The ruling majority refused to follow the procedure that foresees adjudication by the Constitutional Court. A second request by the opposition, for the creation of a parliamentary committee to investigate the case, was also refused by the Socialists.

In January 2023, the court ordered parliament to send the case there for adjudication. More than one year on, parliament has ignored the ruling.

In September 2023, Xhacka was removed as Foreign Minister and replaced by Igli Hasani.

In October, the Special Prosecution Against Organised Crime and Corruption, SPAK, seized property owned by Xhacka’s husband, former Socialist MP, Artan Gaci, as part of an investigation into falsified documents.

It is the not the first time PM Edi Rama’s Socialists are accused of violating democratic rules on government accountability to parliament.