Begaj decreed new magistrates’ salaries, Bardhi: The issue is not just about salaries, it touches the role of the Constitutional Court

The head of the Democratic Party’s parliamentary group, Gazment Bardhi, has reacted after President Bajram Begaj decreed the new magistrates’ salaries.

Bardhi criticized the President’s decision, arguing that the issue is not just about salaries, but also about relations between institutions, the independence of the judiciary and the role of the Constitutional Court.

Meanwhile, he also expressed criticism of the way, in his view, the President has exercised his constitutional role in this case.

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No surprises from the guard of the Parliament building, Bajram Begaj!

Within 24 hours, without visibly exercising his constitutional role as guarantor of the Constitution and as an institutional balancing factor, President Bajram Begaj has decreed the promulgation of the law on the status of magistrates.

The issue is not simply about magistrates’ salaries. This is about a law that directly touches the constitutional architecture of the state, the independence of the judiciary and the relationship between powers, especially the role of the Constitutional Court in guaranteeing the constitutional functioning of institutions.

The Constitution has conceived the President of the Republic as a figure above the parties, with an important role in preserving institutional balance and in facing constitutional crises. It is precisely for this reason that, in moments of clashes between institutions, citizens expect from the President clear stances and the full exercise of the competences given to him by the Constitution.

Ignoring Constitutional Court decisions by the Assembly, if established, cannot be reduced to a technical debate over judges’ salaries. Equally serious is the situation created by delays in their financial treatment. These issues require solutions in accordance with the Constitution, not an escalation of the inter-institutional conflict.

In this situation, decreeing the law without a public stance by the President on the institutional clash and on the implementation of Constitutional Court decisions raises serious questions about the way his constitutional role is being exercised. The Constitution has given him a far more important role: to be above the parties and to guarantee the constitutional functioning of the state.

Unfortunately, the President of the Republic is no longer perceived as an arbiter and guarantor of constitutional balance, but as an institution that simply formalizes the majority’s decision-making.

The institution of the President is not a Treasury Director and not the guard of the Assembly building. Bajram Begaj is.