The Constitutional Court has sided with President Ilir Meta in his dispute with Prime Minister Edi Rama over the President’s decision not to appoint Gent Cakaj as Albania’s Foreign Minister in January 2019.
In their decision on Tuesday, the court agreed to interpret the constitutional article related to the appointment of ministers in favor of Meta’s decision.
The Court highlighted that the responsibility for appointing ministers is shared by the Prime Minister, the Parliament and the President and the appointment “should guarantee the fulfillment of constitutional qualities for this function.”
The dispute arose when Meta refused to appoint Rama’s nominee Gent Cakaj over security issues. Among other things, Meta claimed that Cakaj’s background check happened too fast, thus raising doubts about its accuracy.
Rama took the matter to court, claiming that Meta had no right to refuse his nominee.
“The assessment and verification of a candidate for minister is done by the three institutions involved in the process, each in accordance with their constitutional role and competencies,” the Constitutional Court’s decision stipulates, in an apparent approval of the constitutionality of the President’s decision back in 2019.
The court turned down Rama’s second request for the court to solve the dispute over competencies between the offices of the President and Prime Minister in this specific case.
