Koçi also focused on the need for internal reforms within the Socialist Party. As he took a swipe at Belinda Balluku, he said that people under criminal investigation should be removed from delegated functions.

According to him, flagrant cases of corruption should also be accompanied by criminal complaints.

“Meanwhile, the government cannot leave the fight against corruption solely in the hands of SPAK. Flagrant cases of abuse must be accompanied by public administrative measures and criminal complaints.

The Socialist Party itself needs to replace the scheme of concentrating power in the hands of appointees with power in the hands of those elected by the grassroots structures. And, of course, it should remove from delegated posts any individual under criminal prosecution,” Koçi’s reaction states.

He also called for the further strengthening of SPAK, the removal of immunity for senior officials for a set period, reform of the electoral system to guarantee fairer representation, as well as tougher measures against the involvement of the public administration in electoral processes.

Full reaction:

While publicly expressing support for SPAK’s latest actions against organized crime, which has extended its money-laundering tentacles into construction, the purchase and appropriation of land, etc., I cannot fail to react once again to the nightly protests on Dëshmorët e Kombit Boulevard.

Most of the participants there are idealists, dissatisfied with the administration and committed to genuine public causes. Of course, the political fuel comes mainly from the right wing sidelined by Sali Berisha, from arrivistes of every kind who see chances to be promoted in the future to Parliament. Nor are the heads of tiny social media parties absent, acting like political journalists with mobile phones in their hands.

The Balli Kombëtar slogan “Albania of the Albanians, death to the traitors” proves the attempt to use the protest for a right-wing revanche against the left.

But the protest of the idealists should be used as popular energy to develop an institutionally guaranteed democracy, strengthen the fight against corruption through empowering SPAK, and establish standards for equality and contemporary social solidarity.

The Socialist Party does not need submission, but serious reflection that includes constitutional and legal reform on these points:

1- Repeal of the constitutional changes of April 21, 2008, proposed by Sali Berisha, which turned the Republic from a parliamentary one into a prime-ministerial one.

This would create room and oxygen for parliamentary oversight of the executive.

2- Legal strengthening of SPAK’s functionality and efficiency, accompanied by a special law removing the immunity of senior officials for at least the next 10 years.

3- Drafting and approval of an electoral system that guarantees pluralism and representative equality in relation to votes at the national level.

4- Tightening oversight and penalties for the involvement of the state administration in electoral processes.

5- Undertaking a practical reform in the functioning and results of the Cadastre, where a long-awaited solution would be transferring the authority to issue certified property certificates to notaries.

Meanwhile, the government cannot leave the fight against corruption solely in the hands of SPAK. Flagrant cases of abuse must be accompanied by public administrative measures and criminal complaints.

The Socialist Party itself needs to replace the scheme of concentrating power in the hands of appointees with power in the hands of those elected by the grassroots structures.

And, of course, it should remove from delegated posts any individual under criminal prosecution.

In the end, I stress that the protest must be treated with maturity, neither with hostility nor with naivety.

Let its clean part serve as an investment for more democracy and not merely for changing the stale occupants of power.

Only the majority and the people benefit from democracy.

Only in this way would the protest encourage, rather than hinder, the European integration that is knocking at the door.

A struggle, even a sovereignist one, simply for power in the case of the protest would be nothing but new corruption!

The post Former Socialist Party MP Petro Koçi jabs at Balluku: The government must accompany flagrant corruption cases with measures and criminal complaints! Special law for SPAK, immunity to be removed from senior officials for 10 years appeared first on Albeu.com.