The proposed changes followed three days of turmoil caused by allegations that Ilir Meta, one of the three most powerful political figures in the country, had informed on a friend some times near the end of the Communist regime in 1992, when he was a student – an allegation that Meta denies.
The Socialists’ proposal doesn’t include a ban on former secret police informers running for election or holding public offices; the party said that it is simply “for transparency purposes”.
The main opposition force in the country, the Democratic Party, challenged the Socialists by announcing that it will propose a law that will declassify almost the whole archive of the Communist-era secret police, the Sigurimi, so that Albanians can learn the truth.
The allegations were made against Meta in the media last week after he ended his term as president and returned to opposition politics with the party he founded, the Socialist Movement for Integration, which was recently rebranded as the Freedom Party.
Last Wednesday, Albania’s Authority for Information on Former State Security Documents, the so-called ‘Files Authority’ that deals with the Sigurimi documents, informed parliament that it had identified several politicians, including a high-profile figure with the initials I.M., who had previously been given a certificate clearing him of working for the Sigurimi, but had been a collaborator.
The Socialists have not claimed that I.M. is Meta, but pro-government media outlets have made this allegation. They claimed that he informed on a roommate who had told him about his plan to escape from Albania. The roommate ended up being arrested. Escaping from Albania was considered treason by the Communist regime and was punishable by lengthy prison terms or forced labour, following months of interrogation under torture.
Meta had received a clearance certificate in 2017, when he was elected president, stating he was not a Sigurimi collaborator. The Files Authority said however that the 2017 certificate was issued based on results of a 1995 check carried out by a previous authority and that current legislation does not allow it to recheck certificates.
It said in a statement on Thursday that it is proposing changes in the law “so that we can check the validity of the previously-issued certificates”.
A few hours later, Meta’s spokesperson Tedi Blushi commented jokingly about the statement: “Ha ha ha,” he wrote on Facebook, “they claim a law is needed just for one person.”
Blushi alleged that the Files Authority’s proposal for legal changes was invented by the Socialists to distract people’s attention from corruption scandals. However, the following morning, the Socialist speaker of parliament Lindita Nikolla claimed she was shocked by the revelation about I.M.
Meta held a press conference on Thursday to deny that he had been a Sigurimi informer. Using the kind of language that is not unheard of in Albanian politics, although not common, Meta called Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama a “madman” and Nikolla a “chicken”.
On Friday, the Socialist Party’s parliamentary group proposed its own legal changes, one of which resembled the change proposed by the Files Authority. Socialist MP Klotilda Bushka told journalists that the proposal was being made out of “responsibility towards future generations” and “an obligation towards those who suffered [under Communism]”.
“Our two proposals aim to create a legal body for verifying people regardless of whether they have or have not got a previous clean certificate,” Bushka said.
The first proposal would change the law regulating access to the Sigurimi files, while the second proposes changes in the country’s electoral code to require candidates to declare links with the Sigurimi if they had any and to seek a verification from the Files Authority.
Under the proposal, the files will still be considered a state secret while former spies will not be banned from holding office or participating in elections.
On Saturday, Rama denied allegations that he controls the Files Authority, and criticised Meta.
“I do see that his characteristic explosion doesn’t speak for well for him, with shrieks and uncontrollable arm movements,” Rama wrote.
Rama also claimed that the current head of the Files Authority, Genta Sula, was an appointment proposed by Meta.
