In a video message on the social media, Tabaku said that “the state cannot be built on fines and force, as the Socialist government has done over the last 11 years, but it can be built through fair rule of law enforcement and creation of a fair system for everyone.”

Tabaku argued that the Socialist Party’s draft law unfairly targeted smaller offenders while benefiting powerful individuals and businesses.

Referring to a controversial amnesty bill proposed by the ruling Socialists, the opposition lawmaker recalled the fact that large, unregulated buildings in Tirana that were allowed to remain without penalties, contrasting them with stricter enforcement in less affluent areas.

“They are strong when dealing with the weak, and weak when facing strong people. This is not how a fair system operates. The government should focus on creating equal opportunities and accountability for all,” she stated.

The Socialist parliamentary group has forwarded a proposal to waive fines for illegal constructions in rural areas, saying the move would provide relief to citizens in rural areas facing financial challenges.

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The bill was passed in principle with 116 votes in favor, one vote against and no abstentions in the 140-seat Parliament.

An amendment proposed by the chair of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group was approved by 113 votes. A total of 118 lawmakers attended today’s plenary session.

A total of 700 inmates will be pardoned and released immediately, whereas hundreds of others will have their sentences reduced and trial suspended under an amnesty proposed by the Ministry of Justice.

In the meantime, as many as 2700 individuals currently on probation will also benefit from the amnesty.

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The senior opposition official affirmed his party’s support for the bill as “an act of mercy for all the individuals entitled to benefit clemency under the bill.”

Bardhi noted that DP parliamentary group had already voiced support for the criminal amnesty since the bill was endorsed by the government.

He rejected claims that the bill would pardon corrupt officials, adding that the amnesty provisions extend not only to convicts but also to opposition protesters, offering clemency to a wide array of individuals.

The criminal amnesty bill was passed in principle with 116 votes in favor, one vote against and no abstentions in the 140-seat Parliament.

A total of 700 inmates will be pardoned and released immediately, whereas hundreds of others will have their sentences reduced and trial suspended under an amnesty proposed by the Ministry of Justice.

In the meantime, as many as 2700 individuals currently on probation will also benefit from the amnesty.

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Addressing his party supporters in Paskuqan, DP chairman Basha cited recent statements by former Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, who leveled accusations against top officials, involving misuse of public funds in waste management and other taxpayer-funded projects.

“Just a few weeks ago, in an interview from exile, ex-Deputy PM Ahmetaj pointed a finger at Edi Rama and Erion Veliaj as two true owners and beneficiaries from the waste incinerators affairs that is gobbling 460 million euros from Albanian taxpayers’ money,” Basha said.

Commenting on the criminal amnesty bill, DP chairman said that piece of legislation was devised to save corrupt officials.

“Several provisions have been included in the proposed amnesty bill in a bid to save corrupt officials, who have stolen the taxpayers’ money, those who have been found guilty for corrupt tenders like the one for the waste incinerators. There could be no such amnesty,” Basha stated.

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Asked by reporters following the Socialist Party’s Assembly meeting whether the legislation will be approved at tomorrow’s Parliament session, PM Rama said he didn’t know what’s on the Parliament agenda.

“I don’t know the agenda of Parliament, since I am just a lawmaker. I don’t know what tomorrow’s agenda includes,” he said.

“I just know that a discussion has taken place about a total misunderstanding and which was immediately tackled by the Justice Minister,” Rama said.

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The opposition lawmaker said that the government claims that the fiscal amnesty bill would serve Albanian hard-working emigrants as it would legalize their undeclared assets and money generated through unreported employment.

“Cabinet members claim that emigrants and not corrupt officials will benefit under the legal and financial amnesty. Are they reliable? A little, if not at all! Unfortunately, emigrants are being used as a disguise to cover up the government’s true goal, namely the legalization of ill-gotten earnings not from emigrants, but from people who have violated the law. Such inequalities have turned Albania into a paradise of dishonesty while depriving it of talent and the ability to generate new ideas serving the capital and the economy. What I worry about is that the hard-working Albanians seeking to develop technological ideas and innovations are taxed up to 23%, while those who work dishonestly are taxed 7% only and are granted legal amnesty.  What worries the EU most is that Albania may become not only the paradise of Albanian convicts, but also to the paradise of foreigners seeking fiscal and criminal amnesty,” Tabaku said.

According to her, the most recent reaction from the European Commission simply affirms doubts that the draft law is designed to pardon not the hard work of emigrants, but dishonesty.

Government has proposed a financial and legal amnesty for people who legalise undeclared assets worth up to two million euros by paying a tax that ranges from five to ten per cent, with no obligation to reveal the source of the assets.

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