FLASH
Shkruar nga Ylli Pata
Veliaj, through a legal initiative, has asserted a right that the Constitution grants to an elected official, but which a political leader can remove for "pragmatic" reasons to resolve an issue, even for the good of the city.
The Constitutional Court's decision practically said "no" to the dismissal of the elected mayor of Tirana, simply because he did not show up for work.
The announcement will take place on October 31, when the clocks change, but in broad strokes it will set an important precedent. Which is actually a victory for Erion Veliaj, imprisoned and trapped in a strict isolation regime.
A decision that also comes as a constitutional "revenge" for the two precedents that secured victory "postmortem", after successors had been elected. Namely, Chief Prosecutors of the Republic Arben Rakipi and Theodhori Sollaku, whose dismissals were considered unconstitutional, but which were not implemented.
Erion Veliaj is today the mayor of Tirana, having been elected by the majority of citizens with the right to vote. An elected official is not a bureaucrat who can be monitored by cameras to see if he comes at 8 and leaves at 4. Which in today's administration is hypocrisy, because if the mayor tells people to stay at work until 10 at night, this happens day after day, even on Saturdays and Sundays, even though it is a double-edged proclamation of the laws of the Republic.
Veliaj, through a legal initiative, has asserted a right that the Constitution grants to an elected official, but which a political leader can remove for "pragmatic" reasons to resolve an issue, even for the good of the city.
The Constitution comes first! This is the decision that has given Erion Veliaj, after eight months of imprisonment, a real political victory. And it is likely that a public stance on this verdict is expected and normal. Which has finally curbed the rumor that you can rummage through articles if you want to find a solution, which is irrelevant. Which means Erion Veliaj cannot be dismissed.
But this does not mean that the municipality's management may not have a solution. In many countries around the world we have cases of delegation of a government official when a similar case has occurred. In Italy it has happened often, but of course it is the lawyers who should have the debate in this regard.
But politically, this victory of Erion Veliaj in court opens a new construction site for Tirana, which is neither accidental nor sudden, but thought out with the new logic that is opening up and constitutional. That Tirana is not a school to pave the way for the next car, but a political and ideas construction site to build the identity of the country's future.
Where the battle cannot be fought by the random choices of an establishment, but by the ideas of a thoughtful project that is primarily political. Will this happen? The Constitution has provided many opportunities.
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