Three months ago, Albania’s Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime (SPAK) prepared charges against Belinda Balluku. Initially, party leader Prime Minister Edi Rama defended her against the allegation, until her overnight dismissal on Thursday, February 26th.
Balluku is alleged to have interfered with the competitive tendering process on several public road construction projects. Her recent removal from office appears to have been confirmed in an off-the-record briefing, with Rama’s public focus being his anger with SPAK prosecutors and the courts for interfering with the independence of the executive branch. The PM pointed to other, unnamed countries where, he claimed,
anti-corruption has become a cure more harmful than the disease of corruption itself.
The parliament will now be deciding on removing Balluku’s immunity to prosecution, a vote expected on March 6.
