Taulant Balla

The Socialist Party-controlled parliamentary administration offered MPs laptops for free on Thursday as it announced that parliamentary committee debates will now be held online, following a recommendation by the Committee of Experts, a body that advises the government on measures to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

After winning an unprecedented third mandate to govern Albania, Edi Rama's Socialist Party has turned its attention to its only rival who currently has a senior institutional position, President Ilir Meta.

Police inspect the scene where a politician was murdered and four citizens were injured in Elbasan, Albania, March 21, 2021. Photo: LSA

Xhuvani is a former state official who had campaigned for several parties, including the Socialist Movement for Integration, LSI, and the Justice and Integration and Unity Party, while being a Socialist Party activist currently.

Illustration: David Maddison/Flickr

Bushati said prosecutors asked him where the information came from, and said he had refused to reveal his source, calling the meeting "a short meeting without much substance" while suggesting that the prosecutors should instead investigate how the personal data of the citizens ended up in the hands of a political party.

After a short visit to serious crime prosecutors, Rizzatto left Albania the same day, mission accomplished:

Within the year, money-laundering charges against Vladi and four others had been dropped, as one of Albania's most sensational criminal cases of recent years unraveled.

Albania Prime Minister Edi Rama speaking in parliament on 30 January. Photo: Malton Dibra/LSA

The head of the Socialist parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, said the vote would be postponed while the Council of Venice, the advisory body to the Council of Europe, carried out an express evaluation.

Pressure is growing on the Albanian government over its "anti-defamation" laws, after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, CoE, said it had asked its advisory body, the Venice Commission, for its opinion.