The Democratic Party has boycotted today's parliamentary session. Through an official statement, they state that the socialist majority has refused to include in the agenda the demands of the protesters, who have also been stationed near the Parliament premises today to express their revolt.
statement
The Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party strongly condemns the behavior of the majority in the Assembly of Albania, which continues to hinder the opposition in exercising its constitutional functions and in fulfilling its obligation to represent the interests of citizens.
On Tuesday, using the force of cardboard, the majority rejected the demand for accountability from the Prime Minister and the holding of a parliamentary debate on the legitimate demands of citizens, who have been protesting for more than a month, as well as on the findings and recommendations of the European Parliament Resolution adopted a few days ago.
Following this blocking approach, yesterday, at the meeting of the Conference of Speakers, the majority approved the calendar of the Assembly's work until the end of this parliamentary session, without setting the date for the review of four draft laws deposited about a month ago by the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party. These are:
1. The draft law on the repeal of the amendments to the law on protected areas;
2. The draft law on the repeal of the law on strategic investments;
3. The draft law on the repeal of the Mountain Package;
4. The draft law on the repeal of some provisions of the law on cultural heritage.
These legal initiatives directly correspond to the demands of the protesting citizens and the concerns raised in the European Parliament Resolution. For this reason, they should have been included in the agenda of today's session, as they address issues of high public interest.
As long as the majority refuses to include these draft laws in the agenda or to schedule their consideration within this parliamentary session, the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party has decided not to participate in the proceedings of the Assembly in today's session and we strongly request the inclusion in the parliamentary procedure of the four draft laws for discussion and approval in the Assembly. On the other hand, we note that the Parliament building has been surrounded by hundreds of Police officers to prevent citizens from protesting. If the Parliament conducts its proceedings under the siege of the State Police, only with the aim of silencing the voice of citizens, then it loses its mission of representing citizens.
In conditions where the majority continues to refuse to consider the opposition's legal initiatives and the Prime Minister, together with the Government, systematically avoids accountability for issues that directly affect the public interest, our presence in the plenary session today would not serve to protect the interests of citizens, but would only legitimize a parliamentary process that is taking place in contradiction to the principles of parliamentary democracy.
