After a session marked by tensions last week, Parliament is expected to reconvene today for another plenary sitting. According to the official agenda, there are 18 items on the table, including an interpellation with Minister Blendi Gonxhja and a series of draft laws affecting the banking system, business, the administration of seized assets, and the functioning of several public institutions.
The interpellation with Gonxhja, the session’s most visible political item
Standing out on the agenda is the interpellation with Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Blendi Gonxhja, requested by MP Ina Zhupa. This is expected to be one of the session’s most politically sensitive moments, in a parliamentary climate that remains strained after the latest clashes.
Beyond Parliament’s procedural wording, the interpellation is seen as one of the few instruments through which the opposition seeks public accountability from the government inside the parliamentary chamber. It remains to be seen whether the debate will produce concrete clarifications or remain at the level of the usual political confrontation.
In the package, draft laws on banks, the fiscal system and the consumer
Most of the agenda is tied to economic and regulatory issues. Among them is the draft law “On the Bank of Albania,” which requires a qualified majority of votes for approval, as well as the draft law “On the Fiscal Council of the Republic of Albania.”
Along the same lines, the agenda also includes the draft law “On Consumer Protection,” as well as amendments to laws affecting the National Business Center, business registration, traders and commercial companies, as well as the cross-border conversion, merger and division of commercial companies.
The agenda also includes the normative act providing an addition to the law on excise duties. As in other cases, the approval of such acts remains a test of how the government uses accelerated legal instruments for issues with financial and commercial effects.
Seized assets and confiscated structures return to Parliament
The session also includes amendments to the law on the administration of confiscated structures built without permits, with the aim of using them for public interest or social housing. MPs are also expected to review amendments to the law on the administration of seized and confiscated assets.
These initiatives touch on a sensitive area where public interests, property administration and the way the state manages assets that come under institutional control intersect. For that very reason, the parliamentary discussion on these draft laws is expected to carry weight beyond procedural routine.
From the agreement with Germany to the structure of the CEC and HIDAA
The official agenda also includes the draft law on ratifying the agreement between the Council of Ministers and the Government of Germany on financial cooperation 2024, linked to the project for the renovation of public university dormitories in Albania under the principle of energy efficiency.
At the end of the list are also several draft decisions related to the structure, staffing and salary classification at the Central Election Commission, for the purposes of the 2027 local elections, as well as changes to the organizational structure of HIDAA. Technical at first glance, these decisions are directly linked to the administrative capacity of institutions that play a role in elections and in monitoring the assets of officials.
The session also provides for discussions on issues outside the agenda, a space often used for political clashes after formally technical packages.
After what happened last week, today’s focus will not be only on the list of draft laws, but also on how Parliament itself will function under political tension.