The Socialist Party majority has drafted a law detailing the powers of the President provided by the Constitution. This bill aims to limit the powers of the President, following a number of constitutional clashes between the President and the Socialist Party.
Exit brings below the summary of the law.
The right to set an election date
The Constitution gives the President the right to set the date of local and parliamentary elections.
The draft law stipulates that the President may postpone the election date in the following cases:
a) when allowed by the Electoral Code
b) only in the application of extraordinary measures
c) only for major interests in favour of the elections, provided that the new date does not extend the mandate of the bodies for which the elections take place.
The President can postpone the election date only after consulting with the leaders of the parliamentary parties. In case the President does not set the date of the elections according to the provisions of the Electoral Code, the right to set it passes to the Assembly.
The draft law aims to avoid the postponement of the election date by the President as happened in 2019 with the June 30 elections. President Meta set June 30 for the local elections, a date which was later postponed due to the non-participation of opposition parties.
Despite the cancellation of the date, the Socialist Party majority held elections on June 30th.
The right to dissolve parliament
The Constitution entitles the President to dissolve parliament only when the Assembly does not elect a Prime Minister and when a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister is voted on.
To avoid any ambiguity, the bill reiterates that only in these two cases does the President have the right to dissolve parliament.
This comes after President Meta has often warned that he will dissolve parliament.
Appointment and dismissal of ministers
The President has the right to appoint and dismiss a Minister on the proposal of the Prime Minister, according to the provisions of Article 98 of the Constitution.
The draft law specifies the cases in which the President may refuse the appointment or dismissal of a minister when he does not meet the conditions to be an MP, does not have the required citizenship or age, or has not resigned from public office.
The new law obliges the president to argue his action in case of refusal.
In case the president does not act according to the procedure within the legal deadlines, the right to appoint and dismiss the minister passes to the Assembly.
This procedure aims to avoid non-decree of ministers by the President in the case of incumbent Foreign Minister Gent Cakaj and Interior Minister Sander Lleshaj.
Oath of the members of the Constitutional Court
Members of the Constitutional Court (CC) must be sworn in before the President, Article 129 of the Constitution stipulates.
The draft law stipulates that in case the President does not organize the swearing-in ceremony within the legal deadline, the members of the CC will be sworn in before the Assembly.
The bill aims to avoid the case of Arta Vorpsi. She was controversially appointed by the Judicial Appointments Council (KED), but was not accepted by the President who summoned Marsida Xhaferrllari in her place.
Vorpsi attempted to swear a notarized statement before a notary, without awaiting the President’s summons.
