Justice Minister Ylli Manjani (LSI) talked last evening to Sokol Balla about the future of the ruling government coalition, drug cultivation, and the judicial reform.
With regard to the coalition between the Socialist Party (PS) and the Socialist Movement for Integration (LSI), Manjani stated that the LSI has been given the “unfair burden” to respond whether it wants to stay in the coalition or not. He emphasized that last elections were won by coalition between PS and LSI, and appeared reluctant to include in it the Party for Justice, Integration and Unity (PDIU): “We won the elections with [former PS deputy and now the leader of the new party LIBRA] Ben Blushi, not with Shpëtim Idrizi [head of the PDIU].”
Contrary to Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri’s claims that the spread of cannabis cultivation was grossly exaggerated by the media and the opposition, Manjani agreed that the drugs cultivation has reached a “frightening” level: “Albania is increasingly being perceived as a weed cultivating country.”
He valued drug cultivation as one of the largest security threats in the country, and called for the return of the “gendarmes” to bring the territory back under control.
The judicial reform, according to Minister Manjani, cannot come fast enough:
The current situation in the judicial system is chaotic. No one is controlling anyone, because the High Council of Justice (KLD), the Ministry of Justice, and the High Council of the Prosecution cannot carry any inspections because inspections are regulated by abrogated laws.
He confirmed that the process of judicial reform had been very difficult: “When I started as minister [November 2015] they didn’t even hand us any drafts. It was a process full of misunderstanding.”
Other statements also appeared to confirm that there were tensions in the current government:
I have proposed several draft laws, I don’t know why they are not passing. I am still not in the position to arrive at the conclusion that I am part of a monstrous government. […] Our democracy needs deep interventions in the electoral system, free media, and in the relations with the opposition. […] The opposition is not to blame for the problems of the country. The only fault of the opposition is that it is in the opposition.
