Will Parliament Lift the Deputy Prime Minister’s Immunity?
Tirana Times, December 28 th , 2025. Albania has entered one of the most serious institutional confrontations since the launch of its justice reform, as the Special Anti-Corruption Structure (SPAK) formally requested parliamentary authorization to arrest Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Energy Belinda Balluku. The request, which may involve either pre-trial detention or house arrest, comes not only on the basis of previously known accusations but also, crucially, after SPAK confirmed the existence of new and significantly more serious charges.
The timing of the move is politically explosive. It follows the highly controversial decision of the Constitutional Court to suspend the ruling of the Special Court against Organized Crime and Corruption (GJKKO), which had ordered Balluku’s suspension from office and the seizure of her passport. That decision allowed the deputy prime minister to return to her post while under investigation for alleged large-scale corruption linked to public procurement in the infrastructure sector. Independent legal experts and analysts widely described the Constitutional Court’s intervention as unprecedented, procedurally questionable, and taken under intense political pressure from Prime Minister Edi Rama.
The Constitutional Court’s ruling marked a turning point. Rather than acting as a neutral arbiter, the Court was seen by many observers as capitulating to executive pressure, reinforcing long-standing concerns that it remains structurally dependent on the government. By restoring a senior official facing grave accusations, the Court effectively weakened the precautionary powers of the judiciary and sent a troubling signal about the limits of judicial independence in cases involving the highest levels of political power.
In the aftermath of that decision, several independent analysts warned that SPAK would be left with little choice but to escalate its actions. Those warnings have now materialized. According to investigative reporting, SPAK’s case against Balluku has expanded to include multiple additional procurement procedures, involving hundreds of millions of euros in public funds. Prosecutors argue that the pattern of alleged violations is repeated, systematic, and incompatible with the continued exercise of executive authority by the accused.
Prime Minister Rama’s reaction to the arrest request has been equally revealing. In a public statement, he criticized what he described as a “rough fashion of arrests without trial” and signaled that the ruling Socialist Party, which controls parliament with 73 seats, would carefully consider its response before granting authorization. While framed as a defense of democratic standards and due process, the message has been widely interpreted as a warning that the executive may block the judiciary from taking further action against one of its most powerful figures.
This stance raises profound questions about the rule of law. Parliamentary immunity exists to protect political pluralism, not to shield senior officials from criminal accountability. If the legislature refuses to authorize the arrest of a deputy prime minister facing expanded corruption charges, Albania risks crossing a critical red line: the subordination of justice to political loyalty. Such an outcome would represent a major regression in the implementation of the rule of law and a serious erosion of democratic norms.
A Western diplomat based in Tirana, speaking privately, described the situation in stark terms, warning that a parliamentary refusal could amount to “political suicide.” In European democracies, the diplomat noted, senior officials step aside, or are dismissed, at far earlier stages of investigation, precisely to protect institutional credibility. Albania’s current trajectory points in the opposite direction: the consolidation of executive power at the expense of accountability.
The Balluku case has thus become far more than a single corruption investigation. It is now a decisive test of Albania’s justice reform and of the government’s willingness to accept judicial scrutiny when it reaches the core of power. Whether parliament authorizes the arrest or blocks it will determine not only the fate of one deputy prime minister, but also the credibility of Albania’s claim that no one is above the law.
The request for Balluku’s arrest unfolds against the backdrop of an unprecedented wave of high-level prosecutions that has shaken Prime Minister Edi Rama’s governing establishment over the past years. Several former cabinet ministers have already been arrested and convicted, including the former Minister of Interior, the former Minister of Health, and the former Minister of Environment, all implicated in major corruption scandals linked to public procurement and abuse of office. Albania’s former deputy prime minister Arben Ahmetaj remains a fugitive and is currently subject to international arrest warrants.
The crackdown has extended well beyond the central government. The mayor of Tirana, the country’s capital and largest municipality, has been under arrest since February this year on charges including corruption and money laundering. Investigations have also reached deeply into the justice and security architecture of the state. In one of the most alarming recent developments, the director of the National Agency for Information Society (AKSHI) a key institution responsible for government digital systems and critical national data infrastructure was arrested as part of a sweeping SPAK operation targeting an alleged structured criminal group.
According to prosecutors, senior AKSHI officials and associated businessmen are suspected of operating as a criminal network involved in illegal competition, coercion, manipulation of public tenders, fictitious invoicing, money laundering, and severe violations of procurement equality. Prosecutors allege that companies were forcibly pressured to withdraw complaints, clearing the way for preselected winners in public tenders. Given AKSHI’s central role in e-government services and state digital security, the case has raised serious concerns about vulnerabilities in Albania’s national security framework and the potential capture of critical institutions by criminal interests.
In parallel two prominent businessmen accused of involvement in organized crime and high-level corruption schemes. These cases represent only the visible tip of a much broader judicial offensive. A large number of other officials including mayors, members of parliament, senior civil servants, and agency directors have been investigated, indicted, or convicted.
Taken together, these developments underscore the systemic nature of corruption and the depth of institutional abuse accumulated over years. Within this broader context, the Balluku case stands as the most consequential confrontation yet between Albania’s executive power and the institutions of the new justice system. Its outcome will not only shape the fate of a senior political figure, but will also signal whether Albania’s justice reform can withstand political pressure when investigations strike at the very core of state power.
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