The decision issued yesterday after the vote in the Constitutional Court regarding the rejection of Prime Minister Edi Rama's request for the suspension of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku from office has also been reflected in foreign media.
"Le Figaro" writes that Balluku is accused of tender abuse in the Llogara tunnel case, while he is also under investigation for violations with several lots on the Tirana Ring Road.
Le Figaro adds that the fight against organized crime and corruption is one of the main conditions for Albania's accession to the EU, also mentioning the fact that several ministers of the Rama government have been targeted by the justice system for corruption cases.
The minister, who has been in government since 2019, is accused of favoritism in tenders related to the construction of a 5.9-kilometer-long tunnel on a road in the south of the country and tenders for a part of the Tirana Ring Road.
Albania’s Constitutional Court on Friday upheld the suspension of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku, who is accused of corruption in public procurement. A close ally of Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama, she was suspended from her duties on November 20 by a special court after being indicted by the prosecution investigating cases of organized crime and corruption. The court also issued a travel ban against her in Albania.
The Constitutional Court, seized by the government, had nevertheless authorized Belinda Balluku, who is also Minister of Infrastructure and Energy, to resume her duties in December pending a decision. Finally, on Friday, it announced that it had “decided to dismiss the appeal and uphold the decision of the special court which had suspended (…) Ms. Balluku from her duties”.
Accused of favoritism
The minister, who has been in government since 2019, is accused of favoritism in tenders for the construction of a 5.9-kilometer tunnel on a road in the south of the country and for part of the Tirana ring road. Belinda Balluku has denied the accusations and said she will cooperate with the justice system. The head of government denounced it as “an open act of interference in the independence of the executive branch”.
The fight against organized crime and corruption is one of the main conditions for Albania's accession to the European Union. Several former ministers in Edi Rama's governments, in power since 2013, have been targeted by the justice system in corruption cases.
