In the Albanian parliamentary landscape, changes are afoot as the new parliamentary session got underway this September 4, marking the start of the fifth session of the tenth legislature.
Former Minister of Interior Bledi Çuçi will now officially lead the parliamentary group of the Socialist Party.
The decision by the Socialist Party was announced during Monday’s plenary session of the Parliament, following an initial decision made by the SP in an assembly meeting held in July.
On the other hand, the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group finds itself with a new leader.
Speaker of the Parliament Lindita Nikolla announced that the Democratic Party had submitted a decision naming Lulzim Basha as the new chairman of the parliamentary group. Lulzim Basha, who returned to the helm of the DP in the late July elections, has taken on this new role within the party’s parliamentary structure.
“We need to work and serve the people. As the leader of the Democratic Party and also entrusted with the duty of the group’s leader, I intend to delegate this task to one of the deputy chairpersons of the group, as it has always been. My call to every deputy is that now is the time to look beyond personal interests, beyond the conflicts that may have been caused, ultimately expressed by over 4,000 delegates of the Democratic Party, and they are a real force,” said Basha in a media statement outside the premises of the assembly.
However, this announcement didn’t go without reaction. Gazment Bardhi, the former chairman of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, expressed his disapproval of the parliamentary procedure. Bardhi, who had held the position of parliamentary group chairman until recently, stated that party announcements had never been read in parliament. He emphasized that it should be the deputies themselves who decide the leader of the parliamentary group.
“Until the day we have the majority, I will be the group leader. I took it as a responsibility in a difficult moment. I reiterate the appeal that if Basha has ambitions to become the group leader, at this moment he needs to secure only 18 votes, the 19th vote will come from me. I am declaring it publicly. I owe him that for the sake of cooperation,” Bardhi told journalists outside the premises of the assembly.
Bardhi urged against provoking opposition deputies and stressed the importance of respecting parliamentary procedures.
Bardhi has previously initiated a call for a joint meeting of all coalition “PD-AN” (Democratic Party-Albanian National Party) deputies.
Former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who leads the “Reestablishment” faction within the Democratic Party, responded positively to Bardhi’s invitation. He expressed the willingness of his faction to participate in the joint meeting, emphasizing the importance of cooperation.
This parliamentary session is expected to involve significant discussions on several proposed legislative changes by both the opposition and the majority regarding former collaborators of the State Security Service. These changes are anticipated to restrict their involvement in politics. Additionally, the appointment of the Ombudsman, a process carried over from the previous session, is also expected to take place during this session.
