An independent central bank doesn't need Parliament's permission

On Thursday, Parliament passed the new “Law on the Bank of Albania” by 84 votes, a text drafted by the central bank itself. The law explicitly bans monetary financing of the public sector, keeps price stability as the primary objective, creates the legal basis for a digital lek and aligns legislation with EU standards under Chapter 17. The government can no longer suspend members of the Supervisory Council, while the bank loses its exemption from public procurement from 2028.

These are real safeguards. The ban on monetary financing protects the lek from any government's temptation to cover deficits with central bank money. Limiting the Supreme State Audit to administrative activity, not monetary policy or foreign reserves, follows the same logic: monetary decisions are not subject to political audit.

What upsets the balance is something else. Governor Gent Sejko cannot be arrested or searched over duty-related offenses without Parliament's prior authorization. According to Reporter.al, this does not exempt him from investigation but places a parliamentary filter between the justice system and the bank. In the July draft, authorization lay with the Constitutional Court and the protection also covered the deputy governors; it has now been narrowed, but handed to a political body. Experts question whether it is compatible with the Constitution and with equality before the law, and within the majority Damian Gjiknuri called the guarantees excessive. Taulant Balla argues that the law puts the governor on a par with his EU counterparts.

The paradox is plain: independence from politics is protected by handing politics the key to an arrest. Today one majority decides, tomorrow another. The way the law was passed did not help either. The opposition chose smoke flares over amendments, while the majority, after four lawmakers were expelled, went straight to the vote. A law meant to last decades deserved a debate that never happened.

There is still time. The provisions protecting the governor take effect only once the Code of Criminal Procedure is amended. Our proposal: in that amendment, authorization should go back to a judicial body, as the July draft provided, with a short deadline for a decision and public reasoning; and before the vote, Parliament should hold hearings with constitutional experts and the opposition. The bank will be more independent when its governor needs no one's votes.