TIRANA, Feb 8 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Sunday that the suspension of a government member without a court ruling sets an unacceptable precedent in a democratic country, criticising the Constitutional Court for failing to rule on the matter.
Speaking in the latest episode of his “Flasim” (Let’s Talk) podcast, Rama said the court’s lack of a decision had effectively reinstated the suspension of a cabinet member ordered by a prosecutor and a judge during a preliminary hearing, before any trial had begun.
The government head stated such a measure was “unheard of in democratic systems” and warned that the Constitutional Court’s inaction had made Albania a “negative exception” for the second time in two months.
“This is a suspension decided behind closed doors, without a trial, and without filing corruption charges, even by the prosecutor who requested it,” Rama said.
He described the practice as an improvised and immature feature of Albania’s justice system, stressing that the issue was not the specific case but a fundamental democratic principle: safeguarding the independence of the executive and legislative branches from judicial overreach.
Rama said the government would continue to challenge the precedent, warning that it could open the door to the suspension of any senior official, including the president, by prosecutorial decision alone.
He also criticised what he described as a growing practice of arrests without trial, referring to a recent case in Durrës involving more than 30 arrest warrants issued by a prosecutor, which he said failed to meet European legal standards.
Rama said efforts to build a democratic rule-of-law state and advance Albania’s EU integration would not come at a political cost to the governing majority.
“The fight for justice, the rule of law and Albania’s European future has a guarantor today: this government and this majority,” he said.
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