Press conference of Prime Minister Edi Rama:

I want to repeat once again today our position on the further progress of the judicial reform. I said it in my remarks after the meeting of the ruling majority with Lulzim Basha and the Democratic Party. I resaid it in my speech in Parliament, in the last session, and I reiterate it today.

The good news is that the Democratic Party has abandoned all its previous positions, and is down to only one issue, as Lulzim Basha himself says, or his spokespersons say, the 2/3s that until yesterday was everything they were asking for, today are not useful anymore and they now want reserved seats. This because, according to them, the opposition must protect the country from being captured. We offered them the 2/3s as a far edge of compromise, being convinced – and this is not hard to understand – that there is no chance for the system to be captured with such a majority, where the opposition also has its share in the voting. In addition, we wanted to prove to everybody that we are not interested in the capture, but we are interested in the collapse of the current system, and in the establishment of a new system where parties have no room to block the path to the implementation of this historic project of a radical transformation.

On the other hand, I have not excluded and will not exclude until the last minute the possibility of a solution that includes the opposition in this reform and beyond. And above all, it was not the intention of the draft writers, it cannot be the intention of the United States and of the European Union, and it is not our intention to exclude the opposition from the decision making in the implementation of the Judicial Reform. We have worked and are working very hard, even now as we speak, on a solution that can adapt the core content of the reform and the need for substantial involvement of the opposition in the implementation of the reform process, just as the Venice Commission says.

I am convinced that such a solution can be found and can be totally acceptable to the opposition, if the Democratic Party really wants a solution to this point, and if this point is the only thing that separates the Democratic Party from the Green Card for the reform.

But let’s be very clear on the fact that if the point is a circle, this point, this circle has two halves divided by a red line, for us. There are 4 new institutions, the formation of which will go through the Assembly of Albania. Two of them are connected to the vetting, or as I call it for ease of communication, the ethical and professional radiography of every prosecutor or judge who will continue to be paid with the taxes of the Albanians to provide justice.

It is about the Special Qualification Committee that will filter in a very detailed way and under international monitoring, the property, the decision making through the years and the professional skills of every prosecutor or judge who will want to investigate and judge in this country. It is also about the College of Appeal where, those who claim to have been judged unfairly by the committee, will undergo a second filtering process.

The individuals who will be elected to serve in these two vital instances for the reform – without these two the reform is of no use to anyone – will receive a preliminary approval by the Ombudsman, but together with an international monitoring group. Then, a list of those who have gone through this filter will be sent to Parliament to be voted for those who will be elected in these instances by a supermajority, to serve the vetting process, hence to do the ethical and professional radiography of every judge and prosecutor. These institutions are beyond the red line. The supermajority in this case is the red line, which we won’t cross, and there is no chance to do any kind of compromise with the Democratic Party.

I want to be very clear on this, although in politics you never say never: I will never vote the Judicial Reform if this point is violated. Either we do a Reform in the Judiciary, or no such reform will be ever done!

For the other two institutions, the Supreme Judicial Council and the Supreme Council of the Prosecution, there is every possibility to find a reasonable compromise solution. I have said it, I have repeated it and I am reiterating it, we are ready to move away even from the 2/3s, because it was an extreme position of compromise. The Democratic Party has to move away from the reserved seats, and there is a solution. Because in the selections that the Assembly will do for individuals who will come and vote, after they have successfully passed the ethical and professional radiography, the involvement of the opposition is not only possible, but it is also desirable. And precisely because we have never seen the opposition out of the implementation process of the reform, we made an extreme offer, the 2/3s.

We are aware that we are not talking about the implementation of the Rules of the Assembly, which the Democratic Party violates every Thursday, but about the Constitution of the Republic, where the opposition is an institution and not a determined party, for today it is the Democratic Party, while tomorrow it will be another party, and so on.

After the distribution of the draft today, we look forward to the meeting of the Parliamentary Special Committee on Justice Reform to continue the process, since there are no more days left, no time to waste. We hope that the opposition will come to the committee and make its valuable contribution, while we will continue working tirelessly to provide it, perhaps even before the meeting, if this were achieved, a satisfactory solution of compromise, but on this side of the red line.

If the opposition obliges us to vote the draft alone, when the voting moment comes, we will do it without any hesitation, although we won’t vote unilaterally the article of the supermajority, which is a concern of the opposition and is connected to two institutions only. We will try to find a very reasonable solution. There is no better thing if we succeed, because we are doing a big work. We will see then if the opposition is what it says, or if it will appear, as many people think, at some other point.

I continue to think that the opposition doesn’t want Justice Reform, but I continue to think that the Democratic Party will vote the Justice Reform. As far as we are concerned, we will do our best to give the Democratic Party, the ability to not have any excuse for not voting the Judiciary Reform, without crossing the red line, of course. I believe that we are clear on this!

– Mr Rama, you said that you think the Democratic Party doesn’t want the judiciary reform. Does your ally, Mr Meta think the same?

Secondly, have you thought about the parliamentary procedure to be followed to introduce the Judiciary Reform draft?

Prime Minister Rama: The President of the Assembly and I are co-chairmen of the coalition, not to each other’s spokesman. When you meet the President of the Assembly, you can ask him. Now that I am here, make the most of it.

As for the second one, as I said after the meeting, we will keep going because time is measured by seconds, and we want the draft to be in Parliament on time, hoping that the Democratic Party will join us in the voting, and we are very willing to do anything it takes to make the Democratic Party vote it.

– Mr Rama, could you explain please once more the red line?

Prime Minister Rama: For me, beyond all the rest which is very important, the reform has two pillars.

One pillar is the X-ray scanner in terms of the ethics and professionalism of all those who are paid with the money of the Albanian people to investigate and judge. Property, decisions over the years, professional skills will be scanned with a very fine filter of the highest international technology. We do not negotiate this.

The second pillar is the complete demolition of the system we have, ranging from the high council of the swamp to other institutions, and the establishment of a new system with new institutions.

– Who guarantees the reform?

Prime Minister Rama: The reform is guaranteed precisely by this ethical and professional radiography. If we do not do this, if we build a new house and put in those who filled the old house of the system with dirt and rascality, we have done nothing. It is guaranteed by this X-ray process through both institutions: a special qualification committee who will have an international massive support, both financial and in terms of human resources, and another structure of appeal for those who may not be satisfied that the stains in the radiographs turned out larger than expected, and they want to have another radiography.

We do not negotiate the modality to select these two institutions, therefore, we do not accept either reserved votes or transferred votes, any system that turns the election of people in these institutions, in a bargain of parties.

As far as the other two institutions are concerned, the Supreme Council of the Judiciary and the Supreme Council of the Prosecutor’s Office, we are open. We have given the 2/3s, and we think it would be enough to give it a chance to include the opposition in a process, and to give the opposition a chance to have its say.

In the end, it is the Constitution of the Republic, it is not a constitution that we write for the Democratic Party in opposition, or the Socialist Party, the Socialist Movement for Integration, the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity in government, despite what we think about the most remote day when the Democratic Party will be back in the government. It is the Constitution of the country, and normally the opposition must be included. The Venice Commission provides this guidance. We thought that the inclusion of the opposition was guaranteed with the 2/3s, they think differently. Formulas are not purely hypothetical. We don’t need to look for an Einstein in our environment. There are different formulas. We are working tirelessly to achieve a reasonable offer, to meet the need of the opposition, and we hope we will succeed. I believe that it is clear. In terms of the first two institutions, in terms of the vetting, there is no negotiation, no compromise, no retreat.

-In terms of the project that you said is connected with the red line, how many votes does the coalition have?

Prime Minister Rama: A supermajority. I have not heard of any difference between the Socialist Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration on the draft, which is supported not only by the Socialist Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration, but also by the government of the United States and the European Union. You can count yourself how many governments the EU has.

-How many votes does the draft that you mentioned in parliament have?

Prime Minister Rama: The draft has the full support of the entire majority.

– Mr Prime Minister, you talked about the two institutions that will make a radiography of the justice system in the country. How much space will there be for prejudices, the people who will be selected as a part of these two institutions?

Prime Minister Rama: I’m not at all interested in prejudices. I’m only interested in the judgment that these institutions will give, not for the system, but for the people, person by person. Any individual who is paid with the taxes of Albanians, and wants to continue working as a prosecutor or judge shall go through the scanner with all those elements I mentioned. If they are clean and able to have our greatest respect, Albania also will be liberated from any sort of nightmare, and to not name them, I’ll call them just “killers” of justice.

Thank you!