To establish the veracity of these accusations is naturally not an attribute of the President, nor of the political parties; it is an attribute that lies solely with the justice bodies envisioned in the Constitution. This campaign of accusations and counteraccusations is no longer a matter of the political parties only, but a matter of the State, of democracy and of our political system. Because this new development is overshadowing the political priorities that the government and the political class should have been concerned with for the citizens and society, while on the other hand, it cannot not have consequences on the image of our democracy, State, and Albania itself, in relation to our international partners
The address of President Topi after the passing of the report on visas liberalization for Albania
Tirana, October 7th, 2010 NOA First of all please allow me to express my great joy, to praise and thank the European Parliament for this historic decision, which opens the way to free movement, to this broad and profound aspiration of the Albanian people and their representative institutions. I am here before you in my capacity as President of the Republic to express also my concern about certain political developments that have been registered recently, which regard not only the political actors, but also the State, democracy, and the interests of the general public. As we have all witnessed, for many months now the political rhetoric is being dominated by accusations and counteraccusation exchanged between politicians, public officials and the media. The political actors involved in this debate are supplying the public daily with documents and alleged facts which incriminate the opposite side. To establish the veracity of these accusations is naturally not an attribute of the President, nor of the political parties; it is an attribute that lies solely with the justice bodies envisioned in the Constitution. This campaign of accusations and counteraccusations is no longer a matter of the political parties only, but a matter of the State, of democracy and of our political system. Because this new development is overshadowing the political priorities that the government and the political class should have been concerned with for the citizens and society, while on the other hand, it cannot not have consequences on the image of our democracy, State, and Albania itself, in relation to our international partners. In these circumstances, in my responsibility as President of the Republic, I express my concern about this situation and about finding rapid, transparent, and reliable solutions to it. I would welcome any statement that encourages the delivery of justice and expresses the will for a real co-operation with the agencies of the justice system. I am here to confirm my present and future support to the Prosecutor General, the High Inspectorate of the Declaration and Audit of Assets, the High State Audit, and to every other legal and constitutional institutions which has the duty to uphold the rule of law and deliver justice. For the best interests of the country, constitution order and democratic responsibility, I would also like to once more request from all these institutions to act without further delays, with courage, transparency and professionalism and deal with all the allegations of the political actors towards each-other at the highest seriousness possible, as well as to act on each public denouncing. These institutions should inform the Albanian public about the whole truth in regard to the allegations within the defined deadlines. Each politician, official, employee or employer that has violated the law should face the law regardless of the political or public position. This is the principle of the rule of law, this is the main pillar of a healthy, trustworthy and functional democracy. Albania is at a very important phase of the integration with the European Union. No individual or group of individuals; be them politicians, officials or representatives of the justice; has the right to hamper this vital national interest. Because of this major national interest, I appeal to all the political class, especially the parties that are represented in the parliament, to find a broad consensus or even individual initiatives and to realize the lifting of the parliamentary immunity for all the MPs. I invite the parliament to find the consensus and full responsibility for the country and to co-operate for an immediate constitutional action in lifting or limiting the immunity for a certain category of the officials, such as the chairs of the main justice and constitutional institutions. I publicly ask all officials at any levels to closely and correctly co-operate with the justice institutions, in order not to allow for the repetition of erroneous past practices, when the denied or hampered justice delayed for many years the rule of law and the democratizing and integration processes of Albania. I publicly make an appeal, especially to the political class, to support the development of a judicial power in Albania, which is independent, impartial, ethical, credible, efficient and fair; to avoid giving opinions before and during the trial process about the parties involved in the case, their guiltiness or innocence, or about the evidence and arguments presented to the court. Anyone can publicly debate or criticize the correctness of a court verdict only after it is over, but public attacks against the integrity of judges and the judiciary should be avoided. Any information about judges’ illegal behaviour or actions should be immediately and officially referred to the High Council of Justice or the Justice Ministry for possible further investigation. At this historical stage for the Euro-Atlantic integration, Albania needs concrete political actions, concrete legal initiatives against corruption, and concrete actions by the responsible institutions to prove that the constitutional powers that represent the citizens, either directly or indirectly, have the required professional and civil moral and competence to properly exercise their legal and constitutional duties.
