Opposition steps up pressure on Gërvalla and Sveçla, ministers push back: Let us do our jobs

On Monday, opposition parties continued to demand the dismissal of Donika Gërvalla as justice minister and Xhelal Sveçla as interior minister over the murder of Arlinda Zekaj. The parliamentary inquiry committee set up to investigate the case also held its first meeting that day.

In a Facebook post, Alliance MP Burim Ramadani said bluntly that “Minister Sveçla must go home.” He highlighted the lack of basic equipment for police officers and the fact that no promotions had taken place for nearly a decade. Meanwhile, the PDK warned that if the ministers did not resign voluntarily, Prime Minister Kurti should dismiss them.

Both ministers, however, ruled out resigning. Gërvalla argued that her resignation would not speed up the process of establishing responsibility and asked to be given room to complete the review of the case: “Let us do our jobs.” She stressed that the prosecution had known about the threats against Zekaj since July 10. According to her, the chief prosecutor had even been notified in writing of an explicit death threat on October 23.

Sveçla, for his part, acknowledged that he understood the anger of citizens taking part in protests. He added that institutions were reviewing past cases to identify any possible negligence. Police Director Gazmend Hoxha resigned from his post last week.

During the inquiry committee’s first session, Albulena Haxhiu called for an investigation into the entire institutional chain and for the officials responsible to testify before the committee. Meanwhile, analyst Arton Kasapolli expressed doubts about the committee’s effectiveness. He said such committees were often set up when institutions wanted to avoid doing the actual work. A sixth consecutive protest against femicide was also held in Prishtina.