In the framework of the 35th anniversary of the Socialist Party, Prime Minister Edi Rama, during a meeting in Dibër, gave signals yesterday that he will “release” former Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku and other senior socialist officials who are being investigated by the judiciary, mainly the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK) as being involved in corruption affairs. Speaking about the independence of institutions, Rama stated that the government is accepting “blows” from the power of the judiciary, without reacting to prevent it as has happened in past decades.
He stressed that democracy cannot function without the separation of the three powers and that, according to him, Albania is moving in the right direction despite the difficulties. Even speaking about the justice system, Rama said that accepting blows from another power, such as that of justice, is an indicator of the country’s right path. “Democracy does not function if there are no three separate powers and we are making democracy function despite all the difficulties and despite all the costs.
That’s why whoever throws himself at us, telling us how many people were imprisoned and investigated, and how many people are involved here and there, and then is surprised when the results come out of the ballot boxes. He is so imbecile that he does not understand that the Albanian people in the majority, being a European people in spirit and in Europe in mind, understand that all these are the costs of a historic undertaking that only the Socialist Party of Albania could and can do.
They understand that this is evidence, evidence that the justice that we are supporting, that is being built, is not a game, it is real. When a power accepts being hit by another power, like the power of justice, and does not react to trample it underfoot as it could have trampled it and as it has trampled it for decades, then the country’s path is a safe path. The path of freedom is a safe path, the path of rights and equality before the law is a safe path. This is the Socialist Party of Albania”, Rama declared yesterday.
Behind the Scenes
But this stance of Prime Minister Edi Rama comes at a critical moment, when the European Union has put the parties in difficult positions, demanding not only the resignation or facing the law of high-ranking figures, but also an end to impunity. Brussels has made it clear that concrete results against high-level corruption are the only condition for unblocking membership negotiations. Within the ranks of the majority, Rama’s words about the “cost of a historic undertaking” are seen as a foretold distancing from those being investigated by SPAK.
Labeling the critics as “imbeciles,” the prime minister attempted to defend his line, emphasizing that the people understand that this is real evidence that justice is no longer a game. However, this declaration is an admission that politics can no longer be a shield for anyone. Now, the fate of figures like Belinda Balluku no longer seems to depend on the will of the government, but on the evidence of SPAK. Rama used this platform to legitimize the sacrifice of his associates in the name of European integration.
In this way, he is preparing the ground for any possible judicial development that could hit the government dome. With this move, the prime minister seeks to avoid international isolation, by handing over practically every official who is the target of internationals, where the first to risk handcuffs is former deputy prime minister Belinda Balluku, for whom SPAK is expected to file new charges such as money laundering and corruption. So this situation shows that Albania’s path to the EU now seems to necessarily pass through the dismissal of corrupt “heads” within the cabinet of the “Rama” government.