Albania‘s Constitutional Court Temporarily Reinstates Deputy PM Balluku

By Fjori Sinoruka

Albania’s Constitutional Court said on Friday that it had decided “by majority vote” to suspend a court’s earlier decision suspending Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku from office.

Balluku was suspended on November 21 by the Special Court Against Corruption and Organised Crime, after she was accused of interfering with public procurement procedures in two road construction cases.

Prime Minister Edi Rama took the court decision to the Constitutional Court, asking it to restore Balluku to duty. The Constitutional Court agreed to do so until there is a final decision.

The Special Prosecution Against Corruption and Organised Crime has accused Balluku of interfering with public procurements in two separate road construction cases. She has been a Minister of Infrastructure and Energy since 2019 and Deputy Prime Minister since 2022 and is the highest-ranking public politician ever accused by the SPAK.

On October 31, SPAK accused Balluku of violating public procurement procedures over the construction of a road tunnel in the south of Albania, worth about 190 million euros. On November 21, SPAK added another charge, for violation of public procurement rules over another road construction in Tirana.

Ballaku last month described the allegations as “insinuations”, “half-truths” and “lies”.

Rama strongly criticised her suspension. In a series of public statements, he called the decision “a unique and dangerous precedent” and said that “the suspension is absurd as a concept”.

The Albanian Judges Association said on Tuesday it had been following Rama’s statements about the case with concern. “The Association expresses its concern and indignation regarding the approach that the head of the executive has chosen to take regarding this issue, which is part of the jurisdiction of the judiciary,” it said.