- Speech by the chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, Namik Dokle - At no point did the chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, Fatos Nano, ask or suggest that any Socialist deputy leave the parliamentary chamber during the discussions on lifting the immunity of the deputy and of the president of the Socialist Party, Fatos Nano. On the contrary, the spirit of responsibility before the people, in relation to the boycott of parliament, is clearly shown in the closing remarks of yesterday’s session. Below we publish in full the speech of the deputy and chairman of the Parliamentary Group of the Socialist Party, Namik Dokle: Is there any Albanian in these absurd days who does not judge that parliament is moving toward consuming itself? What has remained to us from this no-vote stance is that we, at the very least, do not want to end up like you. Do we need trauma? Do we need catharsis? Do we need a crisis? Do we need a parliamentary schizophrenia? To be clear, and because our opposition often sees our clash with the government this parliament produced, not only on the left but also on the right, but above all to be clear about the need for a solution to this issue, I have the following considerations. First, we are not facing an ordinary procedural matter. That is clear. We continue to quarrel over a question of competence. The debate is whether the law of parliament is superior to the President’s decree. That is the issue. Can even a parliamentary opposition with a minimum of political dignity remain neutral in the face of this? We say no. We say that this issue must be resolved before the process that is being launched against the doctor begins. And our opposition colleagues are not without reason in insisting that the procedural opening of this issue would confirm a political start to the process, and above all confirm a rush toward distorting it. And the government, frozen in its most important institution, namely parliament, cannot be indifferent to this. Even though in these 7 days our parliament has gone from dizzying super-speed to a total slowdown. It seems this is not happening only to parliament, but also to us. We resemble the hasty persistence of a car that burns through mileage without ever lifting its foot from the accelerator, driving the car into the abyss. Yes, today the roles have changed. You can see that this session is being opened by the opposition. We would lose nothing if the majority continued yesterday’s session. On the contrary, it would serve normality better. And here lies the key to all this absurdity. This is a paradoxical game in which the majority imposes the opposition and the opposition is trying to play the normalizing role. I am saying this not because I have greater sympathy for the opposition than for the majority, but because that is how things are today. What the majority is doing to parliament is trying to distort it. And today it is being proven that, with this practice, parliament will remain hostage to the will of a majority that is not showing maturity in managing conflict. So I tell you: does this parliament need clear procedures, respect for the rules of procedure and for the hierarchy of acts? Yes. Otherwise everything that is happening will drive it toward consuming itself. (The article continues on page 5)