Albanian parliament holds short session to approve government program and cabinet

Albania’s parliament held a much shorter-than-expected session on Thursday to present the government’s program and hold a confidence vote for the new cabinet.

Why is this important: Although a 24 hour debate had been scheduled, the session lasted less than 24 minutes. Eighty-two Socialist MPs voted in favor of Prime Minister Edi Rama’s cabinet, and Speaker Niko Peleshi immediately closed the sitting. The presence of Diella, the newly created virtual minister powered by artificial intelligence, sparked a strong reaction from opposition MPs, who banged on desks and disrupted proceedings.

Context: Edi Rama began the session by giving the floor to Diella before presenting the program. Opposition MPs called this a provocation and began banging on desks, escalating to throwing objects toward government ministers.

A five-minute recess failed to calm tensions. Even the presence of foreign ambassadors in the chamber, who adjusted their headphones to follow the debate, did not stop the disruption.

The Prime Minister warned that during this fourth mandate the government would respond swiftly to opposition blockades:

“During this fourth mandate we will not wait for long, but we will go directly to the vote and close the plenary session every time the opposition continues with its strategy of blocking.”

In his short opening speech, Rama presented the first pillar of the government program, European Albania:

“This is a state exam that requires the involvement of everyone in order to be passed successfully by 2030.”

He added that this mandate would be characterized by using artificial intelligence:

“This will be the mandate of artificial intelligence, which will be mandatory in every ministry and institution, including in the justice system.”

Diella also addressed parliament, insisting she was not unconstitutional and asking MPs not to prejudge her role.

Opposition reaction:

Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha, speaking from the courtyard of parliament, condemned the vote:

“We will stop the annihilation of parliament and the execution of the Constitution by Rama’s government,” Berisha said, before listing accusations against each minister approved in Thursday’s vote.

Minutes later, the DP parliamentary group held an urgent meeting and decided to initiate a motion to dismiss Speaker Niko Peleshi. While they have enough MPs to file the motion, they lack the votes to remove him. They also called on the president not to allow the swearing-in of the cabinet.

Next steps: The Socialist majority has launched a separate parliamentary procedure to impose disciplinary measures against Democratic MPs Gazmend Bardhi and Fidel Kreka, who were seen throwing objects toward the cabinet. A request signed by 30 MPs has been filed to convene the Ethics Secretariat.