TIRANA, Dec 9 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama on Tuesday criticized a request submitted to the Constitutional Court that would raise the monthly salaries of judges and judicial advisers by between EUR 1,600 and EUR 3,100.
In a social-media statement, the government head said the request was made by magistrates and regular legal advisers, while the Special Court Against Corruption and Organised Crime (GJKKO) judges and SPAK prosecutors were seeking a larger increase of EUR 3,100. According to him, those officials aim to bring their monthly pay to EUR 9,230.
“Among those seeking higher wages are the ‘specials’ – GJKKO and SPAK – who already have the highest salaries in the country but want another EUR 3,100,” Rama wrote on social media.
He published a longer statement accusing the judiciary of overstepping its authority and warning of what he called a risk to the balance of powers.
“It is entirely possible to take thousands of euros from the state budget with a court decision when you can already change a government with a court ruling, assuming the powers of the Prime Minister, the President and parliament without ever having received a single vote,” he wrote.
Rama said his concern was not over individual officials but over what he described as a broader threat to the separation of powers.
/m.m/r.e/u.sh/
