Decision on Lleshi, Meta needs more information

Decision on Lleshi, Meta needs more information

For the non-decree of Sandër Lleshi as Interior Minister, the President is standing by his original conviction and has issued a letter with 14 questions to the Ministry of Defense.

However, his concerns basically boil down to one issue.

Is General Sandër Lleshi still an active member of the military?

If so, according to article 69 of the Constitution, this prevents him from being elected as a Minister. 

Referring to the signed letter the Prime Minister posted on Twitter to nominate Sandër Lleshi as Interior Minister, where he addressed him with the title General, President Ilir Meta asks for a conclusive response regarding the candidacy for the Ministerial position.

He also wants to know what procedures have been followed by the Ministry of the Defense to enforce the court's decision to return Lleshi to the former position as Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces and to reward him on the basis of a court decision.

The President asks to be informed of what practices have been pursued for Mr Lleshi's systematization of a similar position to what he held in relation to the rank of General, and if the Ministry has any recourse to the court decision which was in favor of Mr. Lleshi.

The President seeks information, in the form of a letter of response, as to whether there has is any conflict of interest in regards to Mr. Lleshi's role as the Prime Minister's security adviser in comparison to returning to another duty, according to the Court's decision.

The questions from the President have not failed to include an enquiry regarding the candidate, with prior court decision referring to him as Sandër Lleshi, while the letter from the Prime Minister has it written as Sandër Lleshaj.

Shortly after the publication of this letter, Prime Minister Edi Rama,made his answer to the President available to the public.

Rama seems to have misunderstood this entire saga, and suggests it could have been avoided from the beginning.

Given that the President's main concern is that Lleshi may still be considered an active member of the military, Lleshi himself has issued a request for the removal of the title as General.

“I feel sorry for the fact that, if you had just asked the questions that the letter contains regarding the status of General Sandër Lleshi, we probably wouldn’t have experienced this "crack" in the process of decreeing the new Interior Minister,” said Edi Rama.

Sandër Lleshi's letter to President Meta contains an explanation of all of his court history after being released from duty up to and including when the process is won.

At the end of this process, Lleshi says he has not received an active military title and is willing to exercise the function as Interior Minister.

"With the acceptance of this proposal, which is inseparably linked to the non-involvement of the military, I have also decided to give up my military career, regardless of the possibility that the Court's decision has given to me," stated Lleshi. 

Even if Sandër Lleshi were an active General, experts from the Prime Ministry believe that this still would not constitute a valid reason for the President not to decree him as Interior Minister. 

At the end of the letter, Prime Minister Rama explains to the President that by him addressing Mr. Lleshi as a General it does not represent his current title and was merely meant in respect of a person who has had a great career.

EMISIONET