Fierce debate over the fair representation law, government and opposition clash over amendments

The session of the Committee on Political System took place in a tense atmosphere, with amendments to the proposed law on fair and adequate representation on the agenda. The clashes began with the very first amendment, which sought to clarify that fair representation is an obligation stemming from the Framework Agreement and not an act of goodwill on the part of the Government. The debate escalated after Deputy Prime Minister Bekim Sali rejected not only this proposal, but the other amendments as well.

“I am honestly amazed at how easily the Deputy Prime Minister says that the amendment is not accepted, without giving any explanation why. We have become used to you pushing things through in this way. The problem today is not only this law, but all the actions you have taken over these two years. You have no clear arguments to defend Karakamisheva’s law,” said Diana Toska of the European Front.

VLEN said the submitted amendments do not affect the essence of the issue, but are intended to obstruct the adoption of the law.

“All the amendments that have been proposed were not submitted to find solutions and offer something better, but were drafted in such a way that this law could later be blocked, because that is your goal. You have amendments that are completely harmful to the citizens of this country, especially to Albanians,” said Imrlije Saliu Fetai of VLEN.

MP Ziadin Sela also intervened in the debate.

“If you take something that was not ideal and make it even worse, and then say that you did it, that makes no sense to me. Make it better, yes, you have my support and God’s. They are drafting a law that will make it impossible for someone who has celebrated together with others to be discriminated against, while someone else is privileged. That is why you should keep quiet and not speak at all about this law,” declared Ziadin Sela of the Albanian Alliance.

Amendments to this law were also submitted by Fatmir Bytyqi of SDSM, Monika Zajkova and Slavjanka Petrovska. Bytyqi said the concept of fair representation cannot be limited to numbers alone.

“This law speaks of fair and adequate representation, but if we read it carefully, we will see that the proposer has been far too satisfied with the form and has dealt very little with the substance. As if it were enough for an institution to have a certain percentage or an annual report, and we could conclude that we have built a fair state,” stressed Fatmir Bytyqi of SDSM.

The law on fair and adequate representation is expected to replace the Balancer, which was repealed by the Constitutional Court two years ago.