The Chairman of the DP Parliamentary Group, Gazment Bardhi, has stated that the Deputy Prime Minister accused by SPAK, Belinda Balluku, is building a parallel state to obstruct justice.
Bardhi stated that Balluku, who is a defendant and under investigation for 11 tenders worth 1.1 billion euros, is using political power to buy the silence of her associates who, according to him, are implicated in corruption.
Full reaction:
Belinda Balluku, defendant and under investigation for 11 tenders worth around 1.1 billion euros, is using political power to buy the silence of her associates implicated in corruption. While the Constitutional Court drags out decision-making and the Parliament is used as an alibi for not acting, Belinda Balluku is using the time she has bought to build a parallel state, with one sole purpose: to give additional guarantees to her associates under investigation not to speak out.
The examples of obstruction of justice are blatant.
Belinda Balluku's insistence on placing Viola Haxhiademi at the head of KESH, despite the fact that she is a person under investigation and implicated in some of the most serious energy affairs, has nothing to do with performance or merit. KESH is a strategic node in the energy sector, with hundreds of millions of euros in public funds. Placing a person under investigation at the head of this institution is a pure act of political control over a critical sector, at a time when criminal investigations are deepening. The appointment of a person under investigation at the head of KESH is a rewarding message for silence and obedience.
Equally serious and deliberate is the attempt to give Irma Drobonik a 5-year mandate, by parliamentary vote, at the head of the Public Procurement Commission. Even the person under investigation. Even the one trusted by Balluk and Haxhiademi. The Public Procurement Commission is not a secondary institution: it filters and controls every tender procedure in Albania. The long-term placement of a person under investigation at the head of this institution aims to guarantee political protection and peace for the close circle of Belinda Balluk's people, who today feel truly threatened by justice.
These actions are not accidental. They come after the arrest of the former director of the Roads Directorate, Ervis Berberi, who may be collaborating with SPAK. It is precisely for this reason that the long-term capture of key institutions is being attempted: to calm down, to provide guarantees and to silence.
This makes even clearer the strategy of Edi Rama and Belinda Balluku to buy time through the Constitutional Court and Parliament. They are not waiting for justice. They are building blocking mechanisms against justice. This is the deliberate construction of a parallel state, to obstruct justice and to stifle SPAK.
In any democracy, this is called state capture.
In Albania, it is happening before everyone's eyes.
And every day of silence, from any institution, is collaboration with corruption.