‘Justice is working, end impunity’ — Tabaku: investigating senior officials is no certificate of purity

Jorida Tabaku, Democratic Party MP, deputy chair of the EU–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee and co-chair of the European Affairs Committee, said European integration cannot be limited to opening chapters — it must change the way the country is governed, strengthen institutions, and end impunity.

Speaking in Tirana at the conference of parliamentary committees on European affairs and foreign affairs of European Union countries, Tabaku stressed that investigations against senior officials show justice bodies are acting, but cannot be used as evidence of the government’s purity.

“Investigating senior officials shows that justice is working. But this is not a certificate of purity for the government. It shows the corrupt system that has been built,” she said.

According to Tabaku, criminal responsibility is individual, while political responsibility belongs to those who appoint, oversee, and control the administration. She stressed that the path toward the European Union requires political responsibility, not political advocacy for persons under investigation or accused of corruption.

The Democratic Party deputy criticized attempts to attack prosecutors or portray the investigation as political persecution, using the presumption of innocence and human rights as an alibi.

“The presumption of innocence cannot be used to build a presumption of guilt against prosecutors. Albania does not suffer from a ‘republic of prosecutors.’ It suffers from a republic of the corrupt who have amassed so much power, wealth, and arrogance that they believe the law is only for others and that justice must stop at their door,” Tabaku said.

She added that support for justice cannot be selective — cheering it when it strikes opponents and attacking it as soon as investigations approach power.

In her speech, Tabaku also raised concern about agencies, state-owned companies, and structures operating in strategic sectors, also referring to the debate over cases like KAYO. No structure, she said, can be placed outside legal, parliamentary, and constitutional control.

“Defense, security, health, infrastructure, and digitalization cannot be turned into zones exempt from transparency, competition, and parliamentary oversight. The strategic importance of a sector cannot be used as an alibi for non-transparent contracts, concentration of powers, or uncontrolled partnerships,” she said.

Tabaku also presented the commitments that, in her view, should accompany the integration process: not allowing parliamentary immunity to be used as a shield against justice, merit-based appointments, real parliamentary oversight, and full transparency for public procurement, concessions, PPPs, strategic investments, and European funds.

She also called for a competitive and fair economy that fights informality and dirty money, instead of a system where public contracts are awarded on a prearranged basis and competition is obstructed.

“Albania must not enter Europe hiding its problems. It must enter by solving them. Not through the window of propaganda, but through the door of reforms, responsibility, and the rule of law,” Tabaku said.

In closing, the Democratic Party deputy stressed that Europe is not merely a geographic destination, but the model of governance and statehood Albanians deserve.

“We want Europe in full, not in pieces. We want European laws, European standards, its spirit and essence. We want to become part of the European family on merit, and we ask for your help to make this happen,” Tabaku concluded.