It is the first time since the establishment of pluralism in Albania that the highest justice institution – the Constitution Court – has the task to dismiss a president a decision which is being considered in a tense situation.
President has been absent in the session being represented by his legal advisor Bledar Dervishaj who accused the Court that there are members who are partial and that is the reason that they should withdraw.
“There are judges in the Constitutional Court who have some reasons to put in doubt their impartiality,” said Dervishaj in Tuesday’s session which was put off to continue on Thursday.
“Today the court consists of 7 members, 6 of whom have been appointed, elected precisely by the conflicting institutions, the Parliament and the President, while the 7th member, the chairman, has been elected by two bodies and now is in the 8th year of office beyond mandate. Two of the judges have ended the mandate according to a decision of the Constitutional Court, and it concludes on May 2 and April 8, 2022,″ he said.
The Constitutional Court rejected the request of the Presidency for the exclusion of judges who review the dismissal or not of President Ilir Meta. According to the Court, the request for dismissal of Judge Vitore Tusha and other judges was rejected as the reasons were unfounded. The head of the Socialist Party (SP) parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, was present at the session of the Constitutional Court where the request for the dismissal of President Meta was being discussed. As a representative of the Parliament, Balla unveiled evidence in support of the decision to dismiss Meta from office. According to him, Meta has carried out political activity and damaged the image of the country.
“Meta has carried out political activity. Meta damaged the image of Albania. This is the first trial in history for a president to be tried. The dismissal procedure is necessary because of the equality of all before the law. He supported other political forces, incited violence and attacked constitutional institutions. The mobilization of this structure for the dismissal of the President is not problematic,” said Balla.
The resumption of the session on Tuesday at 17.30 did not provide any result and it was postponed to Thursday at 10.00.
The session resumed with the submission of an authorization by the Parliament for Erind Mercury to represent the legislature. On the other hand, the legal representative of the President said that this is the next evidence that the entire investigation process against the Head of State was conducted in violation of the Constitution.
“This authorization signed by the Speaker of the Parliament is another concern for the President. This is the next evidence that the entire investigation process against the President was conducted in violation of the Constitution “, declared Dervishaj, after Merkuri was hired as an external expert by the Parliament during the investigation process by the parliamentary Commission of Inquiry. / Argumentum.al
