The centre-left coalition has expressed dissatisfaction with consultations held with President Bujar Nishani over an appointment to the Supreme Court.
After meeting Nishani to discuss the replacement of outgoing high court judge Ardian Dvorani, the head of the Socialist parliamentary group, Gramoz Ruci, said the consultation process was a purely "formal" matter and not in accordance with the law.
“The spirit of the discussion was not in the framework of the interpretation made by the constitutional court regarding the relationship of the President to parliament,” Ruci said.
“The court’s decision underlined the President's right to nominate the candidate with parliament's right to vote him in - which should be done in cooperation, but unfortunately this time it was not the case,” he added.
Nishani’s appointments to the courts have been controversial, because he has mainly promoted judges linked to the former ruling Democratic Party.
Nishani was interior minister and justice minister in Sali Berisha’s Democratic-led administration before being elected President in 2012 with votes from the Democratic Party and its junior government allies.
Petrit Vasili, head of the parliamentary group of the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, the junior government partner, was also critical of the President.
“We need a spirit of cooperation… not a recap of a process of imposing from one side, and a reaction from the ruling majority, as was the case of previous nominations that were then rejected,” Vasili said.
With the votes of the Socialists and the LSI, parliament has rejected two of Nishani’s previous nominations to the Supreme Court.
The opposition Democratic Party has backed Nishani, accusing the government of declaring war on the President and on independent institutions.
“This has nothing to do with consultation; whatever names the President gives, they will turn them down,” Edi Paloka, the head of the Democratic Party parliamentary group, said.
“This is a war that has started on all the institutions and on the President specifically,” he added.
Autor: Besar Likmeta
Source/Fuente:http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/albania-president-faces-row-on-j...
