The Ombudsman, Endrit Shabani, reported today in the Assembly, before the Committee on Civic Initiatives, Cooperation and Institutional Oversight.
He underlined that a considerable part of public institutions do not cooperate with the Ombudsman, neither to provide information and responses, nor to accept recommendations.

“The implementation of the Ombudsman’s recommendations is almost 21%, a low figure for which I am not satisfied and I ask for the help of this Committee and the Assembly to change this. The most problematic institution that refuses to implement our recommendations is the State Cadastre Agency. Meanwhile, from the local government, the Përrenjas and Tirana municipalities are the least cooperative”, said, among others, Mr. Shabani.

Asked by MPs about his role in the protests of recent days, the Ombudsman specified that he cannot take sides in relation to the political demands of the protesters, but guaranteed that the institution monitors the behavior of the police in every protest to guarantee freedom of assembly.

“The request of political actors for the Ombudsman to come out and protest seems to me to be a request that seeks to make the Ombudsman a party. The role of the Ombudsman is not this, but to guarantee the constitutional right to protest. I have been to the police station several times myself and have met with the protesters, while our staff is investigating 10 cases of excessive use of force by the police,” said Mr. Shabani.

The Ombudsman requested the Parliament to approve the new law on the institution as soon as possible, in order to expand the possibilities for active and concrete action in protecting the rights of citizens, not only in the public sector, but also in the private sector.