Tabaku complains to EU representatives: Opposition has no room for parliamentary oversight, reforms being carried out unilaterally

Democratic Party MP and chairwoman of the Committee on Human Rights and Public Information Means, Jorida Tabaku, accused today (21 September) that the European integration process is accompanied by a lack of space for the opposition in parliament and by unilateral reforms from the government.

During the proceedings of the EU–Albania Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee (SAPC) being held in Tirana, Tabaku said Albania’s negotiating positions cannot remain mere political declarations, but must be accompanied by parliamentary oversight and opposition involvement.

Tabaku cited as an example the rejection of the opposition’s request for an investigative commission on KAYO, calling it another case where the opposition is denied its constitutional right.

The MP also criticized the electoral reform and the territorial reform, which according to her are being carried out unilaterally and without consultation.

"There are at least 17 laws on which we as the opposition have raised concerns with European institutions. The law on strategic investments. The law on protected areas, the law on the mountains package and many others that the EP has mentioned in its resolution, but EP resolutions must be turned into work plans for Albania. Albania’s negotiating positions are not political declarations. The element that the integration process can involve parliament more is also linked to parliamentary oversight, to the space the opposition has there and to the reforms that need to be made all-inclusive. The latest case, on Thursday the request for an investigative commission on KAYO was rejected. It is not the first case where the opposition’s space for parliamentary investigative commissions is rejected. Both reforms being undertaken, the one on elections with OSCE-ODIHR recommendations and the territorial reform, appear to be unilateral. Albania’s Parliament has approved a calendar for a unilateral territorial reform by the government. A reform carried out without consultation and which concentrates power in few hands. I hope this missing space over the past years is in the past and the opposition will exercise its constitutional rights, the parliamentary space, inclusion and the consensual reforms needed for the integration process," Tabaku said.