Parliament closed one of the session’s longest debates after midnight, approving at 01:30 the majority’s bill for a 2% increase in magistrates’ salaries. The initiative passed with 84 votes in favor and 24 against, amid a sharp political clash that brought to the forefront not only the pay of judges and prosecutors, but also Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks on arbitration and Albcontrol’s blocked funds.
Vote after a session extended into the early morning
The law on judges’ salaries was approved in the early hours of September 18, after debate in the chamber continued past midnight. The majority secured 84 votes in favor, while 24 lawmakers voted against.
Beyond the numerical result, the way the session was pushed until 01:30 turns the decision into another episode of major approvals being passed at hours when public scrutiny and transparency drop significantly. At the center of the discussion was the 2% salary increase for magistrates.
Rama intervened several times in the debate
During the discussions, Prime Minister Edi Rama intervened several times from the chamber. He said he would take a position on the issue after hearing all lawmakers who had requested the floor.
In one of his rejoinders, Rama said he would speak “when I want, not when you decide,” further adding sarcastically that he was listening to “all the bright minds of Parliament’s legal thought” before giving his own position.
Magistrates’ pay and the debate’s shift to arbitration
Although the session was centered on the salaries of judges and prosecutors, the political clash shifted to another issue as well: arbitration and the government’s claims regarding the non-execution of a ruling against the Albanian state.
According to the prime minister’s version, the party that won the arbitration case has received “zero lek” from the Albanian state. Rama insisted that he had not said he does not recognize the arbitration ruling, but that the payment has not been made and that legal avenues are being pursued to challenge it.
Claims about Albcontrol and SPAK’s involvement
Along the same lines, Rama said that Albcontrol’s blocked funds are in a frozen fund and, according to him, will be touched only after the matter is fully clarified. He added that this money will return to the state treasury.
The prime minister also said that there are administrative and civil proceedings for the entity in question, as well as a criminal proceeding outside Albania, while claiming that SPAK has also opened proceedings related to this issue. These statements were made at the peak of the parliamentary debate, while the session on magistrates’ salaries was still continuing after midnight.
In the end, the majority passed the law, while the opposition opposed it in both the vote and the debate. Beyond the size of the increase, the session left another signal about the way issues with institutional impact are passed late at night, wrapped in political clashes and with little real clarification for the public.