In Albania, democracy is no longer challenged by major crises, but by a long silence — an institutional apathy that has taken the form of normality. Reports from independent institutions are no longer heard in the parliamentary hall. They are merely archived documents, submitted with legal formality but treated as obstacles by political power. They are not reviewed, not commented on, not debated. The legislative power has turned into a waiting room, where the voices of institutions are indefinitely postponed, and where parliamentary obligations are just deadlines to be violated without consequence.
This is not simply a delay. It is much more than that. It signals that the very idea of state-building is in deep crisis — surrounded by institutional cynicism and a double standard that has eroded all trust in representation.
A State of Forms Without Substance
Institutions like the Ombudsman, the Bank of Albania, SPAK, the High Council of Prosecutors, and the High Judicial Council have not come to Parliament to be applauded, but to speak about the state of the country — about the justice system, the economy, and the fight against corruption. They have not only asked to be heard but to be confronted. Instead of debate, they face a wall of indifference. Instead of hearings, they are met with the silence of parliamentary committees.
A State Behaving As If It Has No Time for Itself
While reporting dates are formally included in the parliamentary calendar, in practice, the legislature closes in a rush to take “campaign vacations,” abandoning one of its most important functions: the oversight of independent institutions. This is the core of the crisis — not merely a procedural failure, but a moral collapse of representation.
Parliamentary Vacations as a Paradigm of Decline
The fact that the Albanian Parliament chose to remain silent at the very moment it should have listened is a clearer political message than any declaration: oversight is deemed unnecessary when power is centralized. In this reality, the majority no longer has interest in listening, the opposition has no space to demand accountability, and Parliament has no capacity for self-regulation. The Speaker of Parliament avoids responsibility by hiding behind committees. The committees are never convened. And the citizens? They hear nothing — not for lack of interest, but because no one is speaking to them.
A Democracy in Name, Not in Function
Albanian democracy has become a constitutional exhibit — everything visible on paper, but invisible in reality. Public consultation exists for form. Reports are submitted to justify legality. Parliament adjourns its sessions, but not its responsibilities. When everything operates under this scenario, citizens begin to detach from the process. They stop believing — not because they are apathetic, but because they have been excluded from the mechanisms meant to represent them. Trust erodes. And with it, the legitimacy of institutions collapses.
The Turn Toward Auto-Collapse
In a country that seeks integration into the European Union, this kind of dysfunction is not just unacceptable — it is self-destructive. The EU requires independent institutions, real oversight, the rule of law, parliamentary debate, and citizen engagement. Albania today has a dismantled model of all of these. Instead of transparency, there is formalism. Instead of resolutions, there is oblivion. Instead of accountability, there are holidays.
In a new legislature where 70% of members are newly elected, it is expected that they will discuss the reports left behind by the old one. They will approve recommendations for a year that has already passed. And they will draft new ones for a year that is almost over. This is not oversight — it is institutional absurdity.
Beyond Irony: Is There Any Political Morality Left?
Today, the question is no longer why hearings were not held. The question is deeper: Does any institutional sensitivity to political responsibility still exist? Because Parliament’s inaction is not a technical error — it is a conscious act of destroying its own role. When reports are submitted, consulted by civil society, but ignored by the people’s representatives, we have reached a point where the state no longer communicates with society. And where there is no communication, there is no representation.
On the Brink of Total Silence
Who benefits from a parliament that does not listen? What is the purpose of independent institutions that are never confronted? In the end, when everything is treated as a formality, the Republic itself becomes a constitutional illusion.This is Albania without a functioning Parliament — a country where the state is not toppled by a coup, but by indifference. Where every delay, every excuse, and every silence brings it ever closer to the point of no return — into a state without substance, without debate, and without citizens.