On November 3, President Meta refused to decree Prime Minister Rama’s proposed appointment of Sandër Lleshi as Minister of Internal Affairs. Following this, the Prime Minister has decided to appoint Lleshi as deputy Minister with all the rights of a Minister. Rama tweeted:
Full consensus of the parliamentary group. Tomorrow the parliament will adopt the President’s decree to dismiss the former Minister of Internal Affairs. Sandër Lleshi will take over the reins of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as deputy Minister. But this does not end here. I will further address the parliament tomorrow at 10:00.
However, the Prime Minister does not have the right to make such an appointment. He is legally barred from delegating the duties of a Minister to the Deputy Minister. Furthermore, if the Ministry of Internal Affairs is left without a Minister, the institution will have no right to weigh in on the decisions of the government during meetings. Thus, this Ministry will remain without representation in the government.
Both these provisions derive from Law no. 900, 30.1.2003 “On the organisation and functioning of the Council of Ministers”, article 6.2 of which dictates:
The deputy Minister acts in stead of the Minister, as provided by article 34.1 of the Administrative Procedure Code. The deputy Minister is appointed and dismissed by the Council of Ministers, at the Prime Minister’s proposal. According to the Minister’s decrees, the deputy Minister is assigned additional tasks.
Additionally, article 13.4 “Council of Ministers Meetings” provides:
If, for various reasons, the Minister cannot attend the Council of Ministers meeting, then he must notify the Prime Minister preemptively, and, with the approval of the latter, the deputy Minister may participate in his stead, without a right to vote.
