Albanian President Ilir Meta calls for referendum on "defense of the Republic"

 Ilir Meta

 In Albania, the president called on Friday evening to organize a referendum "in defense of the Republic", as he put it, but without specifying exactly what the people would demand, moreover, that the law on referendums have a number of limitations.

In a special speech, he first praised the Constitution adopted 21 years ago, exactly on November 22. "Designed to lay the foundations of a state that guarantees the fundamental freedoms and rights of the individual, the separation and non-usurpation of powers, the preservation of sovereignty and the building of the country's European and Euro-Atlantic future, the Constitution of '98 enabled restoring social peace and normal political rotation in the country," said President Meta, recalling afterwards that "this Constitution, which still enjoys the respect, esteem and nostalgia of all Albanian citizens, was unfortunately abolished overnight in complete darkness by the political agreement of parties of 2008”.

Mr. Meta spoke in a critical tone about other changes that the Constitution underwent in 2016 as part of the Justice Reform, which he said "have highlighted three other acute problems today, by telling the truth it is warned that this will happen. "First, the Constitution turned into regulation with dates and deadlines, which unfortunately have been violated. This excess of time has caused constitutional and legal chaos that is leading to the paralysis and destabilization of the entire justice system in the country,” the president noted.

“Secondly, as the Venice Commission had warned, the implementation of this drastic and unprecedented process would have to be cautious and gradual given the human resources available. The aim of the reform was not the bankruptcy of the judicial system, but its profound reform and the increase of the credibility of the citizens in the Albanian justice,” said Mr. Meta.

"Thirdly, again warned by the Venice Commission - pointed out by the Head of State - that the implementation of such profound constitutional changes should be implemented while maintaining a spirit of cooperation, to ensure that new justice institutions are not seized by force by the parties in power. Contrary to what the Venice Commission advised, the implementation of justice reform continues to be one-sided and far from transparent."