Minister of Justice Petrit Vasili continues his criticism of the procedure around the establishment of the International Monitoring Operation (ONM) and its Management Board. According to Vasili, the Management Board was unconstitutional as it was not mentioned in Annex B of the Constitution, which deals with the institutions formed for the implementation of the judicial reform.
After first declaring that the Management Board of the ONM, which comprises EU Ambassador Romana Vlahutin and US Ambassador Donald Lu, was unconstitutional, he now sounds the alarm on the role of General Secretary of the Council of Ministers, Engjëll Agaçi, in the process of the constitution of the ONM.
The role of Agaçi came to light through the answer of EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn, sent to Prime Minister Edi Rama in response to a letter sent by Vasili regarding the unconstitutionality of the ONM Management Board.
In this letter, Hahn expresses his “surprise” at this Minister Vasili’s query, because the ONM was “explicitly foreseen in the Constitution and the relevant legislation.” Hahn argues against Minister Vasili that Annex B of Constitution implies the formation of a management of the ONM, even though it is nowhere explicitly specified who is supposed to be part of it.
Moreover, “the launch of the IMO [=ONM] was initiated following invitation by the Government of Albania,” Hahn continues.
On 18 January 2017, the Secretary General of the Council of Minister of Albania, Mr Engjëll Agaçi, submitted a formal request to Mr Christian Danielsson, as competent Director General at the European Commission services, for the IMO to begin operations.
According to Minister Vasili, it was not Agaçi’s competency to send that letter to Danielsson. In a letter addressed to President Bujar Nishani, Speaker of Parliament Ilir Meta, and Ambassadors Lu and Vlahutin, Minister Vasili writes:
The General Secretary of the Council of Ministers de jure is part of the civil servants of the public administration, but de facto, in his concrete case, and in contradiction with the Constitution and the law, has exerted competencies that he has never had, or have never been given to him. This is also the spirit of the Constitution of the Republic of Albania and its amendments, approved with consensus on July 21–22, 2016.
As Agaçi was not allowed to send that letter, the ONM has been instituted on an illegal premise, so Minister Vasili argues.
