TIRANA, Oct 25 /ATA/ -By Maela Marini/ Prime Minister Edi Rama on Sunday presented a new legal package to combat urban violence, comprising six complementary instruments.
In a video message, the prime minister stressed that the package was based on a clear set of principles: peaceful protest is protected, violence is punished, and the perpetrator must pay for the damage caused.
“Following another wave of violence in central Tirana last night, when the Democratic Party (DP) stepped out from behind the scenes and took centre stage in the perpetration of urban violence, and its headquarters became a political shelter and a supply point for explosives for the perpetrators who had gathered last night from all directions and through all the sources of this anti-democratic blaze, rest assured that we will put out this unnatural blaze of misfortune as well,” Rama said.
The prime minister said the situation would be addressed with patience and determination, insisting that those responsible for the violence would not be allowed to impose on Albania what he called the “rotten salad” of a “political fossil” who had turned the Democratic Party (DP) into a vehicle for anti-fa extremists who glorify violence across Europe.
He also accused foreign actors of seeking to prevent Albania’s EU integration and of inciting masked individuals who claim to represent students but who, he alleged, have stronger ties to organised crime than to the student community.
He stressed that the legitimate demands of ordinary people across the country would be addressed, noting that they rightly expect a fairer distribution of the benefits of economic growth and stronger guarantees that employment decisions are based on merit.
In this regard, the prime minister said the draft 2027 budget, which is due to be presented in the first few days of this week, would introduce a range of positive measures for ordinary families, public services, young people and students.
Rama stressed that, following intensive work with European experts and close coordination with Italian and French partners, Albania had finalised a legal package of measures against urban violence and disorder. The package draws on the model recently adopted by Italy and France to address what he described as the same anti-democratic threat, as well as on the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
“This legal package is based on a very clear set of principles: peaceful protest is protected, violence is punished, and the perpetrator must pay for the damage caused. Each proposed measure has been aligned with Article 47 of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, the case law of the Strasbourg Court, and the guidelines of the Venice Commission and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on freedom of peaceful assembly,” Rama added.
According to him, responsibility is always individual, and any significant restriction is subject to judicial review.
“The package consists of six complementary instruments: a normative act providing for immediate compensation for small businesses; a special law on the repair of damage; several amendments to the Law on Assemblies; a dedicated electronic register of perpetrators of urban violence; an amendment to the teachers’ code of ethics; and several proposed amendments to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Albania,” Rama said.
/j.p/sm/
