Overview

• Diella, a virtual official already known from the e-Albania portal, addressed lawmakers by video during the government program debate.
• Parliament adopted Prime Minister Edi Rama’s program with 82 votes as opposition deputies booed the session and refused to participate in the vote.
• Rama says Diella will take all decisions on public tenders with a promise of 100% corruption-free procedures and full transparency.
• Opposition leader Sali Berisha denounced the appointment as unconstitutional and said the Democratic Party will petition the Constitutional Court.
• The speech’s authorship was not disclosed, and critics question who programs and controls Diella, noting Albania’s middling corruption ranking and the Tirana mayor’s pre-trial detention in a procurement case.