Ambassadors with dp group, “Justice reform is fundamental for the country’s future”
The US and the EU ambassadors held a meeting with Democratic Party parliamentary group, which lasted for about 2 and a half hours.
The ambassadors conveyed that the reform adoption is in fact important for Albania and for its relations with both the EU and the USA. Contrary to the ambassadors, for whom the time factor is of utmost importance, the DP chairman frames the product that will emerge from the justice reform as more important. And he doesn’t give a timeframe for when the reform can be adopted.
During the discussion with the Democrat MPs, the EU ambassador reiterated that the judicial reform should be adopted by the end of June. She noted that otherwise the integration process risks being blocked for at least three years, as the EU agenda is full due to elections in some countries of the union.
The EU ambassador also declared that without the adoption of the reforms, international support for Albania cannot continue.
The democrat MP Genc Pollo criticized the internationals, declaring that they can also make mistakes, using the rejection of the first two drafts by the Venice commission, to prove his point.
He asked the ambassadors to be careful with their statements, as according to him, their statements have been politically manipulated by the majority.
Meanwhile, the democrat MP, Eduard Selami, praised the historic commitment and cooperation of the USA and the EU. He emphasized that the majority should not use the judicial reform to push a political agenda.
Both ambassadors told the democrat MPs that the National Bureau of Investigation should make judges, and also corrupt ministers and former ministers nervous.
It is learned that the US ambassador commented on the discussion over their presence in the parliamentary groups.
“I have heard that you have discussed our presence in these meetings. We will not exceed our role here. My attendance is to express the importance of the justice reform, not to give orders. We are prepared to be constructive, but we also want any opponents to be constructive. The reform should be adopted. The question is how we will do this? Through the cooperation of all parties, OPDAT has prepared a draft that follows the Venice commission recommendations”-said ambassador Lu.
At the end of the meeting, the ambassadors appealed for cooperation between the parties, for the adoption of the reform as soon as possible.
The democrat MP Topalli left the meeting with the ambassadors early, while the former Prime Minister Sali Berisha and the DP MP Ruli were both noted as being absent. The former PM considered his absence to be quite normal, considering the many meetings he has already had with the ambassadors. MP Ruli claimed that his political parties have the opportunities to reach an agreement over the justice reform.