The Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Agron Gjekmarkaj, has sent a letter to the Court of Appeal regarding the logo and seal of the Democratic Party.
Agron Gjekmarkaj says that for a long time, a “dishonest saga is being played on the fate of the Democratic Party at the doors of the courts, which like a ‘hot potato’ passes from one level to the next without legally dividing what is clear in everything and to everyone.”
The Deputy Speaker of the Assembly writes that the courts have the duty to deliver justice, and according to him, the way the issue of the DP stamp was handled has transformed the perception of the judiciary into allies of Edi Rama’s government for a long time.
FULL LETTER:
Tirana, on March 27, 2024
Subject: On the need for priority and impartial treatment of the issue of the “Democratic Party of Albania
Directed: Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction
Dear judges,
For a long time now, a dishonest saga has been played out over the fate of the Democratic Party, the largest opposition party, at the doors of the courts, which like a “hot potato” passes from one level to the next without legally dividing what is clearly in everything and for everyone. For a political party in every handbook, there are many definitions that converge on the fact that where there is membership, political bodies, deputies, parliamentary groups, delegates who gather in the National Assembly, the institutions it produces from the President, the Presidency, the National Council, there is the sigla that shape and define it.
Courts have the sacred and difficult task of delivering justice. With this awareness, PD voted for the Justice Reform and supported the new justice system. Justice cannot and should not behave like a political party. It should be equally distributed by all. The way in which the issue of the “stamp” of the PD has been treated has transformed the perception of the justice bodies for a long time into allies of the power of Edi Rames.
The opposition in any democratic country is the other side of the system, its balancer and checker. The legal anarchy for the fate of the Opposition seriously compromises every judge who has dealt with this issue by not resolving it in a clear and final way by uniting the legal act with the will of the membership. Recently, the Supreme Court competently and professionally defined the rules on which the Court of Appeal should rely to definitively resolve this issue.
The fate of the Opposition is directly related to the fate of Albania, to democratic life in the country, to the implementation of the Constitution and the law, to the universal principles of a liberal and functional democracy. This issue cannot be dragged out and cannot be manipulated because it would be a literal assassination, a constitutional coup in the country’s political life, a violation of the democratic rules of the game, interference in the political race in favor of power, denaturing the essence of system and undermining the institutional life in the country.
“Peace requires four basic conditions: truth; justice; love; and freedom”, the great Polish Pope John Paul taught us. That’s why Albania is waiting for you! The opposition is what we have been missing for a long time, without which we were an oppressed people, a people without a real justice system. Today, you honorable judges can contribute so that Albanian democracy is not dragged down, rising to the height of the noble mission you carry out, without becoming a party to the enemies of oppositionism.
Hoping that you will return the legality of the DP and the Opposition as a legal concept, recognizing what the people and citizens have given you for a long time, you honor the lieutenant, the sense of justice and motivate us to support you as much as possible, without compromise, in your independence.
The truth for the Opposition is true for Albania and the legal and democratic state. It cannot be taken hostage. None of you should be so bold as to harm the major interests of Albania, its people and democracy, by dragging out an issue that is of major public interest.
If justice is not respected, the states turn into big gangs of thieves. Stealing the legitimacy of the Opposition would be the biggest attack on Albanian democracy. No citizen of this Republic who aspires to freedom, democracy, prosperity, membership in the EU and the strengthening of friendship with the USA should have such courage.
