The Legal Affairs Committee approved on Thursday its report on the inquiry on President Ilir Meta’s actions and statements, following a request by the ruling Socialist Party to dismiss the president.
Committee’s recommendation to establish a parliamentary inquiry committee will be votes today on the parliament’s floor.
The report identifies a number of allegations for “serious violations of the Constitution” which warrant president’s dismissal:
— The president has failed to guarantee the national unity of the Albanian people with his statements before, during and after the April 25 elections.
— He has failed to moderate the political conflict between parties, and has instead encouraged it, while supporting the opposition in the electoral campaign.
— His public messages have led to violence, hate, the killing of a man and wounding of several others in Elbasan ahead of the election day.
— He has used derogatory remarks against the prime minister and foreign diplomats in Albania.
— The publication of these derogatory remarks in the international media has damaged Albania’s image, and its relations with the US and EU.
For the Socialists, these allegations amount to “serious violations of the Constitution”, which is one of the two possible conditions to dismiss the Albanian President – the other one being “committing a serious crime”.
This is the second attempt by the socialist majority to dismiss President Meta. They dropped another inquiry against him started in 2019 over appointments of members to the Constitutional Court and the decree annulling the June 30 elections. After one year of inquiry and following a Venice Commission report suggesting that Meta had not committed any serious violation of the Constitution, the Socialists gave up.
