The approval of the draft constitutional amendments by Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on Judicial Reform on June 14th and the signing of an initiative by ruling majority lawmakers to send it to parliament was met with criticism not only by right-wing parties, but by some left-wing parties as well, which say that the package cannot be passed without reaching a consensus with the opposition about recommendation 88 of the Venice Commission.

After the Socialist Movement for Integration underlined that consensus is necessary, statements were given by the chairman of Human Right Unity Party (HRUP) Vangjel Dule and the chairman of Christian Democratic Party (CDP) Nard Ndoka to express their stance about not passing the reform without the consensus of the opposition.

The ruling coalition does not have the votes in the parliament to pass the judicial reform package and it will need the votes of some opposition lawmakers as well to reach 94 votes. But it seems that it will not have some votes of its parties as well.

By a simple counting of likely votes in the parliament which has 140 lawmakers, 70 of them want a compromise for the judicial reform, and this may be a problem for the PM.

Dule: Parties Must Find Consensus about Judicial Reform, Says Dule

The chairman of the Human Rights Unity Party (HRUP), Vangjel Dule, said that the justice reform is a delayed process, and his political force welcomes its voting in Parliament.

Dule said that he believes the different parties will be able to find consensus about the only remaining issue, recommendation 88 of the Venice Commission.

“I value the progress made in the reform so far. I believe the parties will find the good will to negotiate and reach a compromise,” Dule said.

Dule said that the reform should be passed by all parties in Parliament.

As for the relations between Greece and Albania, Dule said that they are at their highest levels, but he also criticized the Rama government for lack of vision in the foreign policy.

Ndoka: Christian Democrats on the side of opposition

The Christian Democratic Party has only three lawmakers in the parliament. However, at a time when every vote counts, it looks like the socialists do not have these votes.

In an official statement given by CDP’s chairman, Nard Ndoka, he even considers the depositing of the constitutional amendments draft by the ruling majority as a provocation.

“Voting by two-thirds devalues the Parliament. It creates a blocking mechanism, increases political conflict, removes the necessary political support for justice institutions, making their decisions contestable. The Christian Democratic party wants the judicial reform to be voted as soon as possible. We ask Mr. Rama to respect recommendation 88 of the Venice Commission and be relieved from political complexes. There can be no justice without the opposition. The tendency for one-sided voting is dangerous for the standards we are aiming to create,” Ndoka said.

Ndoka also expressed concerns about amendments in Article 12 of the Constitution, which allows marriage within the same gender, something “unacceptable for Christian Democrats.” According to Ndoka, this will “seriously damage the family values and Albanian tradition.”

Mediu: Only the Venice Commission can put red lines

In a press statement, Republican Party chairman Fatmir Mediu said that only the Venice Commission can put red lines, and nobody else.

“The opposition has voted in favor of every article and has acted based on political and international agreement that the recommendations of the Venice Commission are the basis of the judicial reform. We have all agreed that the red lines cannot be put by PM Rama, but by the Venice Commission. This Commission has determined the green lines as well, showing which are the solutions in case there is political disagreement. There is only one remaining issue which needs to be resolved: the political non-capture of the justice system by the socialist ruling majority,” Mediu said.