Prime Minister Edi Rama has again commented on the dispute over judges’ salaries, criticizing the way the issue has been handled by the judiciary.
Speaking in a live video on Facebook, Rama said that, regardless of judges’ right to raise their concerns, those concerns should be addressed in a civilized manner and through institutional communication.
Meanwhile, the prime minister stressed that the Constitutional Court’s decision would be respected.
“I want to start where I began, with these two councils, two peaks — one peak with two bodies — at the top of the judicial pyramid. These men and women, who are paid not insignificant amounts and who are there to administer the affairs of the judiciary, not to dispense justice, but to administer processes that until yesterday were administered by Parliament and politics and which are now entirely within their own independent authority.
“Let us say that the judges are right, which I do not think they are, but is this the lesson and example they are setting?
“How is it possible that the first normal step was not taken — to seek contact, to have people sit down at the table, those who live with the responsibility of a state on a difficult path of European state-building?
“At every step, we set an example for others. We have the opportunity to express ourselves publicly and say that we have this concern. Let them express themselves. There is a Constitutional Court decision that we have no intention whatsoever of failing to respect, but there was a deadline set, July 31, which could not be met because of the parliamentary process, and we want to know how you envisage this. After hearing our side, they could have continued to do what they were doing. But to act with such arbitrariness toward a governing majority that fought for this standard of treatment and well-being for the families of this entire body in Albania — the first thing that came to your minds was to challenge it in such a brutal manner. Taking the law into your own hands — what are you, the party of hammers, to come out and threaten constitutional and political authorities?
“To threaten the finance minister — what are they supposed to be, guards at an ownerless warehouse?
“How is it possible that there is not even a moment to pause and consider the steps rationally?
“We may disagree, but we have an obligation to handle that disagreement in a civilized manner,” Rama said.
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