Prime Minister Edi Rama signed today the petition of civil society to launch the vetting enforcement in view of the implementation of the judicial reform, approved by consensus in parliament. The Prime Minister considered the launch of the Vetting process of primary importance, a dividing line with the past in the justice system.

 

Prime Minister Rama: There is this widespread will of the people expressed in all forms, and also through this initiative of civil society which the Socialist Party supports fully and strongly, in order to free the country from the dictatorship of corruption and crime in the justice system. It is a dictatorship that has caused de facto many victims in these 20 and something years, and which, thanks to this vital, transforming and state-forming reform is about to end. The time has come to start implementing the reform through the enforcement of the vetting law, which will put a dividing line between the future and the past, between the judges and prosecutors who work with integrity, professionalism, experience and courage, in order to bring in this country the era of a new justice and equality before the law in the court rooms.

This is not a reform to simply clean the palace of justice from the corrupt and the incriminated who have kept hostage this people, and have hindered the development of every sector, but it is a reform to give a new and very strong impetus to economy, employment, and definitely to the integration of the country.

The Higher Representative of the European Union talked plainly and clearly last night. The launch of the implementation of the justice reform through the enforcement of the vetting law coincides with the launch of accession negotiations.

I believe that for all those who have tried and still try to obfuscate this fact and this simple truth, this will be more difficult after last night, because the Albanians saw and heard directly from the High Representative that the European Union is ready to open the accession negotiations, abiding by the statement of last year, when it accepted the positive recommendation of the Commission with the understanding that Albania will start enforcing the vetting law.

Will negotiations with Mr Basha start today? Are you ready for this?

Prime Minister Rama: Negotiations with the European Union will begin the moment we start enforcing the Vetting. There is nothing to negotiate with the opposition, but there are things we can talk about. If the opposition is really concerned about free and fair elections, with even higher standard than those what we have had before, it is welcome. We are very willing to see and listen to concrete and realistic proposals, and make them part of the legislation after the elections. Also, we are willing to listen to and discuss with the opposition anything else, without any problem whatsoever.

The opposition will ask for a caretaker government. Is dialogue considered failed since now?

Prime Minister Rama: The only thing that we cannot talk about, or rather we can talk about, but it’s not us who decide, is what belongs to the sovereign by Constitution. It is the sovereign who decides who is in government and who in the opposition. It is the people who decide this by means of their vote every four years. This has been decided, and we are in the process of implementing a contract that hasn’t expired yet; it will expire when the people judge and decide again. The people decide who is in the government and who in the opposition. Then, the government and the opposition are obliged to interact.

Mr Rama, what will happen in Parliament on Monday? The opposition has declared it will not attend.

Prime Minister Rama: Time has come to enforce the vetting law based on the Constitution amended by 140 MPs. Time has come for the DP not to abuse the mechanism of a necessary and healthy compromise, which has been written in the Constitution thus giving the government and the opposition equal access to the selection of members of the Vetting Committee. The opposition has the responsibility to enforce the terms set forth in the Constitution, and not to avoid this major national and public liability by staying in the tent. It can stay in the tent as much as it sees it appropriate with regard to other issues, but not on this issue, I think. However, they cannot halt the vetting. I assure you that nobody can halt it, because it is a historical necessity. Just as nobody could halt the constitutional amendments and the major reform on the paper for the constitutional amendments, nobody will be able to halt the vetting either. I assure you on this.

Will it be voted in time?

Prime Minister Rama: It remains to be seen. It is not absolutely sure that it can be delayed, but it remains to be seen. You know, I don’t talk about what comes tomorrow. We are here today to underline our obligation of today. Be assured that tomorrow we will have all the required answers and ideas to continue further on a path that was determined by the majority of the Albanians, both socialists and democrats, who may be separated with regard to many things, but not with regard to the necessity to get rid of corrupt and incriminated prosecutors and judges, in order to be treated as equals.

Will the procedure continue in Parliament on Monday, even if the opposition does not attend? It has already been officially set in the work agenda.  

Prime Minister Rama: I didn’t say this. I said what I said before the justice reform was voted. While all of you would say that it will not be adopted, I said: “either it does or it does”. I didn’t discover this. It is an old discovery of the human and political history, that when time is right, nothing can be stopped by anything. Time is right for the vetting and justice reform, after more than 20 years of kidnapping, victims and total destruction of the great potentials for development.

You accuse the opposition that it is blocking it. There’s also something missing in terms of procedure, as you don’t have the required number. How will this be solved?

Prime Minister Rama: I didn’t accuse anybody. I just expressed my point of view. When you say that something is missing in terms of procedure, you will probably want to read the documents and refer more precisely to the laws, and you will see that there is nothing missing in terms of procedure because we have all the required basis to make the right election. The fact that there are so many Albanian who applied, shows that there is a great will to do the justice reform.

The opposition will ask for a caretaker government at the dialogue table. Has this dialogue failed since the beginning?

Prime Minister Rama: I don’t repeat the refractory and wrong stances of my predecessor who would set conditions to discuss. We have no conditions to discuss. We discuss anything, but we cannot fulfil everything. The government has the right to ask for a caretaker government, but it is our duty to consider more seriously the requests of the opposition, and fulfil what we can fulfil.

Has the majority set a negotiation group in order to concretely sit at the table?

Prime Minister Rama: We don’t need to set any negotiation group. We’re ready to sit face to face with anyone from the tent, and we’re ready to discuss everything, without conditions. But it is about dialogue, so it is about two parties, and there are things we can agree on and other’s we cannot agree on. There are things on which we cannot agree, even if we want to because they are beyond our responsibilities and competences. It is the responsibility of the Albanian people to decide who is in the government and who is in the opposition. It is not anyone’s jurisdiction.

Will you participate in the elections without the opposition?

Prime Minister Rama: Our participation in the opposition is not related to that of the opposition. We will participate in the elections as a party, each based on its own decision making. Whether the opposition is going to attend or not, this is a question you have to ask to the opposition. If you ask my opinion, the opposition will participate in the elections for this is the only way to be an opposition. So, this is not something that concerns me, but it is their right to take a decision and not participate in the elections. I don’t have any problem with this.

Have you reached an agreement on the coalition with your ally?  

Prime Minister Rama: I remember that on our first day in government, I was asked: “when will you split from the SMI?” My answer has been and is that you have the right to ask interesting questions in order to sell your papers, and to compete with each other on every portal and in every coverage, but I assure you that there is a right even greater than your right and my right, and this is the right of the Albanians to be governed by the one they have chosen. The Albanians have chosen this coalition, and will be governed by this coalition.

Mr Prime Minister, did you discuss also regional issued with Ms Mogherini after the statement last night? What is the position?

Prime Minister Rama: Of course we discussed them, but you know that I don’t usually tell what I discuss with our partners on such issues. This was an old habit of my predecessor, the former Prime Minister, but I don’t have his habits.

Will Albania hold the same position in relation to the Albanians?

Prime Minister Rama: Albania is of the Albanians’, and Albania holds positions in support of the Albanians; it cannot hold other positions.

How can they sit at the dialogue table, when you hasn’t offered anything concrete so far?

Prime Minister Rama: You’re wrong. We are ready to reply to every request of the opposition we can fulfil.

What is that you can fulfil?

Prime Minister Rama: The opposition should tell us what its requests are. We’re ready to sit at the table without conditions. We don’t tell the opposition, you’re welcome to this table provided that you talk about this and not about that. If the opposition wants to sit at the table, it can talk with us about anything. But we will also say at the table what we have to say, because we’re not there only to listen. We’ll do together what is possible and what is in the interest of the nation and of the people. What is not possible is not possible. What is important is that nothing can prevent us, and we don’t even need to meet to enforce the vetting law, we don’t need to meet to pave the way to a new justice, we don’t need to meet to free the Albanians form the corrupt and incriminated judges and prosecutors, we don’t need to meet because we met in July last year and we voted together to have the vetting done. Saying I want this and that first, and then the vetting means that you don’t want the vetting. And not wanting the vetting means preventing the country from developing further with increased intensity and with more results, and it definitely means halting the integration process of the country, but this is more of a consequence. I’m not among those who say that the opposition is anti-European, as we used to be told. The opposition has the right to take its own decisions, which are respectful, and whether I understand them or not, they don’t need my understanding. At the end, the Albanian people see, hear, judge and decide.