By Ilir META
President of the Freedom Party.
The government propaganda smokescreen that is constantly spread by pseudo-analysts and pseudo-opinion-makers who are paid for disinformation, as well as some failed protagonists to whom “Renaissance” majority reserves TV-studio opportunities to “affirm” the “new” opposition type 0.99[1], cannot hide the genuine facts and truths, which prove the continuous coherence of Ilir Metaj in relation to the Constitution and especially, to the Justice Reform, which, unconstitutionally was transformed into Ramaforma (= the reform for the purpose of serving PM Edi Rama) as a gun in his hand to annihilate the main political opponents and guarantee his impunity.
First, Ilir Metaj, as Speaker of the Parliament and Chairman of the LSI, as a determining factor of the majority in that period, agreed to the Reform in the Justice System on the condition that it be examined and certified by the Venice Commission.
This was the way it was drafted and voted, despite the games of Edi Rama and the McGonigals on both sides of the Atlantic.
Even when Edi Rama, together with his gang broke the consensus that had been reached earlier thanks to my insistence and blocked the Electoral Reform Commission from convening in order to reflect in its decisions the consensus that had already been reached between position and opposition, it is well-documented, by voice and by image, the moment when I, as Speaker of the Assembly, interrupted the plenary session and called the two ambassadors who were in the lodge (US and EU), as well as Edi Rama and Lulzim Basha, to meet and to understand who was breaking the consensus.
It is known that the only person who did not come to the meeting was Edi Rama as he was behind this plot, which aimed to capture the justice system directly through constitutional changes. He was not successful then, since the legal package was voted with 140/140 votes.
But understandably, PM Rama and his McGonigals achieved their goal later, and step by step.
Starting with the unconstitutional election of the Attorney General, Arta Marku, when the Constitutional package which was approved with 140 votes clearly defined that the Attorney General was elected with at least 84 votes.
Through this unconstitutional election, full control was established on the High Council of Prosecution (KLP), by using the arbitrary and political appointments of Arta Marku.
Similarly, the SPAK (Special Structure against Crime and Corruption) that we have today is a product of these unconstitutional and politicized acts in the extreme, except for the vetting process, which is commonly known to have been and remains controlled by the Government and personally by Ëngjëll Agaçi, the Secretary General of the Government and main person responsible for all illegal affairs (incinerators, PPPs, custom-made laws) approved by the Government.
As President of the Republic, one week before the term of the Attorney General (Adriatik Llalla) terminated, I asked the opposition leaders to propose some transparent standards for the election of the new Attorney General, in a joint press conference with the President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic.
The opposition did not take any steps to prevent Rama’s obvious scenario for the capture of the Attorney General’s Office, but, furthermore, after throwing smoke bombs in the Parliament’s hall, when Arta Marku was elected with 69 votes, the opposition did not appeal the legitimacy of this election to the Constitutional Court, even though the violation of the Constitution was very flagrant.
This is how the investigation system in the Republic of Albania was caught by the throat.
This is also what happened to the courts.
It is not easy to forget the extraordinary rally of March 2, 2020, called by me as President of the Republic in defense of the Constitution and especially, of the Constitutional Court, which was being violently robbed by Edi Rama with the help of the McGonigals who not only incited Mr. Dvorani to make forgeries, but they also tried to blackmail the President of the Republic into accepting that the new judges took their oath in front of a Notary Public which has the office at the Lana riverside.
This institutional clash which was a matter of principle, for which I was not to blame, brought about the great Manifestation of March 2, after which the majority was forced to withdraw the unconstitutional draft law on the swearing in of the judges in the Notary Public Office, and not in the presence of the President of the Republic.
For this conflict, the Venice Commission formulated the opinion, giving credit to the President of the Republic and making Mr. Dvorani responsible for the violation of the Constitution and legal procedures.
On this issue, the President of the Republic sued Mr. Dovrani in the SPAK. This case, not only was never investigated, but the response from SPAK was that the case was closed since it had brought about no consequences. (?!)
Therefore, the year-long delay in the setting up the Constitutional Court, the open and unnecessary conflicts between the President and the Parliament, were not considered “consequences” nor was the damage to the credibility of the most important institution that a genuine democratic country can have, which is the Constitutional Court.
The burning of the parliamentary mandates by the opposition accelerated the total capture of not only the justice system, but also all other independent institutions in the country.
Therefore, to all those who say that Ilir Meta got what he deserved for voting in favor of the Judiciary Reform, my answer is that I am proud to have opposed at every moment this coup d’état that took place in our country and I will continue this battle until this coup is dismantled.
My constant denunciations on the capture of the Judiciary Reform and the execution of the coup d’état objectives, certainly, has and will have consequences for me as well, which I have neither avoided nor will I ever avoid.
My abduction was an indication of this coup, with SPAK issuing the arrest warrant based on a law that was repealed 4 years ago. Furthermore, with the Police actions on SPAK’s own order and use of the Special Operational Forces with masks, unidentified, without any official warrant and entering the vehicle I was travelling with heavy weaponry and using private cars for the abduction.
As far as the courts are concerned, they “notarize” illegalities and arbitrariness, because, for them, the Constitution, the European Convention of Human Rights, the principles of the rule of law, the presumption of innocence and due process of law, do not exist.
Consequently, the Justice System Indices of Albania are far behind those of communist Vietnam and Belarus.
This is why the 2025 Budget has condemned the vast majority of Albanians to further impoverishment, who will have neither a salary increase, nor a pension increase, nor an increase in economic welfare payments, no more support for their children’s education, no more support for their or their children’s health.
While “intellectual crimes”, such as the non-existent incinerators of “Renaissance” will continue to be the main beneficiaries of the state budget.
In the same way, SPAK expects to be rewarded after the elections of 2025 with another 9-year mandate for the endless services it has done to cover up electoral crimes, for the political attacks on the main opposition leaders that it has isolated, and to cover up ” intellectual crimes”, which only SPAK cannot look at and comprehend.
[1] Similar to Erion Veliaj’s G99 party that received no votes in the previous elections.
