The President of the Republic, Bajram Begaj, requests the Constitutional Court to declare the decree he issued on October 1 for the partial elections in the Municipality of Tirana, a decree that was suspended by this court, incompetent. The request is addressed to the Court after the Constitutional Court will review the request of Erion Veliaj on October 31, who opposes the government's decision to dismiss him as mayor.
"The Institution of the President of the Republic, in its capacity as an interested party, requests the Constitutional Court to declare at the beginning of the session on 31.10.2025 the lack of competence regarding decree no. 350, dated 1.10.2025. To decide at the beginning of the session to lift the suspension of the decree. To decide at the end of the session to dismiss the request of the dismissed Mayor of Tirana, Mr. Erion Veliaj, as unfounded in the Constitution," the request states.
In his submissions, President Begaj explains that the legislation in force clearly establishes that the government's decision to dismiss Erion Veliaj is an individual administrative act and the President's decree of October 1st announcing the election date is a collective administrative act. It is also emphasized that the Constitutional Court has no jurisdiction over the decree on the election date. "The Constitutional Court has agreed to review an administrative act over which it has no jurisdiction, because it did not know how to prevent its action. This is intolerable arbitrariness for a system that operates based on the principles of the rule of law. The Constitutional Court must immediately declare the lack of competence to review the decree, immediately lift the suspension it has imposed and free the Institution of the President of the Republic from the status of an interested party, because the decree of the President of the Republic cannot be the subject of review in this matter. Otherwise, the procedure can be carried out to the end, but it will be unconstitutional," the letter states.
Meanwhile, the head of state asks the Constitutional Court, after the decision to be made regarding Erion Veliaj's lawsuit, to put the Central Election Commission, which is responsible for organizing the elections in Tirana, into motion.
"Because the suspension has made it impossible to hold the elections for the Municipality of Tirana on the date decreed by the President of the Republic, the Constitutional Court must order the CEC to prepare the elections in this municipality on the date to be determined by the Court, a date which must not be earlier than 30 days from the entry into force of its decision," the letter states.
Under these conditions, the President of the Republic emphasizes that only such a proceeding can restore the constitutionality of the appeal process, arbitrarily violated by the Constitutional Court itself.
