Assembly and protest! What is expected to happen today: Parliament has the Territorial reform and 4 interpellations on its agenda, the Opposition against

The Assembly will meet today at 10:00, in a plenary session with 18 items on the agenda.

In focus are four interpellations with ministers, the administrative-territorial reform, and a series of draft laws affecting different sectors.

Meanwhile, the “Flamingo Revolution” and the Opposition have announced protests. The latter has described it as a national protest without flags or symbols, against the Territorial reform proposed by the SP.

Opposition leader Berisha himself called on citizens to gather today (8 October) at 10:00 in front of the Assembly. The police, for their part, have prepared a plan of measures under which, depending on the level of violence by protesters, water cannon, spray or tear gas may also be used.

The session will start with the approval of the minutes of the 5 October meeting and announcements. Then an urgent interpellation will be held with the Minister of Internal Affairs, Ervin Demo, requested by a group of MPs from the Democratic Party’s Parliamentary Group.

Three more interpellations are planned to follow. Two of them are with the Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, Enea Karakaçi, requested respectively by MPs Ermal Pacaj and Tedi Blushi. The fourth interpellation is with the Minister of Finance, Petrit Malaj, requested by MP Tedi Blushi.

One of the main items of the session is the draft law “On the administrative-territorial division of local government units in the Republic of Albania”, which is expected to be one of the most closely watched issues in the Assembly.

The agenda also includes the draft law ratifying the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer, the agreement with North Macedonia on establishing joint border crossing points and carrying out joint controls, as well as amendments to the laws on banks and the payment system.

MPs will also consider amendments to the law on environmental protection, the draft law on geographical indications for craft and industrial products, and amendments to the legislation on trademarks, patents, utility models and supplementary protection certificates.

Another important item is the draft decision on establishing a parliamentary investigative commission to check the legality of the activity of the state company “KAYO” sh.a., in connection with cooperation agreements and the production, import, export and trade of weapons, ammunition and military equipment.

At the end of the session, a draft decision on changes to the composition of the Assembly’s standing committees will also be considered, while MPs will have the opportunity to discuss issues outside the agenda as well.