The saga of the three integration laws came to an end today in
Parliament. Only a few minutes were needed and the draft laws that
caused more accusations and counteraccusations were passed with more
than 100 votes.
The qualified majority was reached after the opposition’s request to have these laws enter in effect in September was accepted by the majority.
Different from this voting, the entire session that lasted several hours seemed more as an electoral activity with accusations and promises, with the Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, speaking several times from the podium.
The Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha: Where is your Fier condition now? I will tell you. This voting is burning you down but you want to vote it because you think that you can wash your face with the dirty puddle you created.
Ditmir Bushati, Socialist Party Parliament Member and chairman of the Integration Commission:
I don’t know how you answer to your nieces when they ask you why Albania is not like Romania or Bulgaria today. You have governed this country for 13 years, and you should start with the apologies, because that’s a sign a nobility.
The three drafts were reforms for the Supreme Court, the Parliamentary Regulation and the Civil Employee status. The latter spurred more debates, because the opposition asked the Prime Minister why he was using the administration for his campaign.
Prime Minister Berisha: We don’t use the norms of your bus. Today we have the norms and standards of freedom.
Saimir Tahiri: You speak about professional civil services, but what professional service do you have when employees are hired from party lists, without competing or tests. What’s the merit of your family members, that they are found everywhere in the diplomatic service? I wish you peace until the June 23rd elections. More peace you will find after June 23rd, as a retired man, and I guarantee that you will be a full time father and grandfather, and this time not on the Albanians’ damage.
The Prime Minister used this session to promise once again to lift the visa regime with the United States of America, although Washington representatives were skeptic about this.
Prime Minister Berisha: We will achieve the visa liberalization with the United States of America. I have been working for months on this issue, and I’m not saying that it is a simple process, but I am optimistic.
Ditmir Bushati: You’re promising the impossible. We have the chance to at least meet our neighbors’ pace to rebuild a European Albania here.
Internationals greet consensus
The international factor reacted right after the three laws passed. The European Union Ambassador in Tirana, Ettore Sequi, greeted the compromise in the session that he followed closely from its start.
“As I have said before, Albania has all the chances to progress in fulfilling their obligations, and this was the proof”, declared the European Union ambassador in Tirana, Ettore Sequi.
The Commissioner for Enlargement, Stefan Fule, reacted on his Twitter profile with a post:
“I welcome adoption of 3 key measures in parliament. Important to keep cross-party consensus for moving the country forward on EU path.”
After this session that Berisha was careful to call “the last” for several times, this legislature comes to an end, together with the chances to find a solution to the Central Election Commission crisis.
However, the OSCE Ambassador, Eugen Wollfarth, greeted the passing of the three laws giving the message that for the moment we should be happy with that.
“People should be optimistic. I have said everything I had to say about the Central Election Commission. We want to see a complete Central Election Commission, but let’s separate this from the steps undertaken today. Today we saw constructiveness and when you build a country and a better future for your country, you cannot stop being constructive”, he said.
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