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Special report
The Socialist Party and the Democratic Party present themselves as opponents. The record shows they have also voted together on decisions that affect how politicians are investigated and punished. This page sets out what is documented, what has been alleged, and where the two parties acted against each other. An allegation of collusion is not a finding.
Votes and agreements where both parties acted together on matters that affect prosecution of politicians.
Berisha says PD has ended all cooperation with the PS in choosing names, after the Ombudsman case and the Prosecutor General contest. Implies earlier cooperation on names. Carried from; not re-opened.
Source: BalkanWeb · 3 Aug 2026
Ombudsman Endri Shabani elected with 85 votes, attributed to PS with PSD; PD had signed support for several candidates and later withdrew (Shqiptarja, BalkanWeb). Partial cooperation that broke down. Carried fromand shared-ties; Constitutional Court rejected PD challenge (BalkanWeb, 29 Sep 2026, per existing file).
Source: Shqiptarja · 12 Dec 2025
Outcome of the amnesty law as reported in the EC 2024 Albania report: 40 individuals convicted by SPAK courts fully pardoned, 65 sentences reduced. The report also notes reform without cross-party support. No politician is named.
Source: European Western Balkans · 31 Oct 2024
PS and DP agreed a compromise on the criminal amnesty law; DP amendment expected accepted; article gives no vote count or party split. Headline count of 110 votes for the decree (abcnews.al). Article says the deal excludes high officials investigated by SPAK.
Source: Top Channel · 3 Apr 2024
Vetting deadlines extended to 31 Dec 2024 with 118 votes in favour (94 needed), per Top Channel (74 from the Socialist majority, 4 abstentions) and Shqiptarja (73 PS, 41 PD and allies, 3 Social Democrats, 1 LSI rebel). The two accounts differ on PS count and abstainers. Carried from existing files; Top Channel total matches Shqiptarja.
Source: Top Channel · 10 Feb 2022
KQZ package under an opposition-majority agreement: Celibashi elected State Commissioner (106); PD's Lealba Pelinku elected Deputy (105); PD blocked a PS-proposed candidate (as reported). Carried from.
Source: Shqiptarja · 5 Oct 2020
Constitutional amendment opening electoral lists: 106 for, 10 against, 6 absent; PD positions disputed in sources; no party breakdown. Carried from; not re-opened.
Source: Shqiptarja · 30 Jul 2020
Olsian Çela elected Prosecutor General with 101 votes, elected with majority and new-opposition votes (no per-party split). Carried fromand; not re-opened.
Source: Shqiptarja · 5 Dec 2019
18 May 2017 PS-PD political agreement ended a deadlock; afterwards the KQZ replaced its appointees with PD candidates (OSCE report, search-result PDF; not parsed).
Source: OSCE · 2017
Constitutional justice-reform amendments passed with 140 votes (22 Jul 2016); PD leader Basha announced PD's support; no per-party split in the press source. Carried from; not re-opened in this run.
Source: Shqiptarja · 21 Jul 2016
Accusations that the parties protect each other. Each is the speaker's claim, with the response where one was found.
Enkelejd Alibeaj (Right 1912): 'Rama is looking for allies against SPAK. He is calling Berisha'; reported paraphrase that Rama and Berisha are fully coordinated in attacks on SPAK and have divided the attack trenches. Headline seen; body not opened; date not on page. Genc Burimi rejects the cooperation thesis in the same debate.
Said by: Enkelejd Alibeaj
Source: A2 CNN · UNDATED
Analyst Ergys Mërtiri (paraphrased in a search summary): Berisha and Rama share a common enemy in SPAK and are in an alliance; Berisha uses the PD to get out of his investigation. Counter-view by Genc Burimi. Opinion; no document read.
Said by: Ergys Mertiri
Source: Shqiptarja · UNDATED
Headline: PD attacks the prosecutor, saying prosecution protects 'Rama's people' (in a case involving a PS-linked figure). One-directional claim against prosecutors; no PS-PD arrangement shown.
Said by: Partia Demokratike
Source: Shqiptarja · UNDATED
PD deputy Ina Zhupa, per headline: the Assembly is a shield for Balluku's immunity. Accusation by PD against the PS majority, not evidence of PS-PD cooperation. The 12 Mar 2026 vote (PS against, PD for arrest) is the documented pattern.
Said by: Ina Zhupa
Source: Balkanweb · UNDATED
Berisha alleges that Rama and SPAK chief Altin Dumani struck a bargain: Veliaj's detention in exchange for shielding Olsi Rama. Page (A2 CNN) returned HTTP 403; headline only. Documented: Veliaj charges and trial. Not documented: any bargain.
Said by: Sali Berisha
Source: A2 CNN · Feb 2025
Berisha accuses SPAK chief Dumani of shielding the Prime Minister's brother in the Xibraka file (A2 CNN headline, Jan 2025). SPAK's response reported in a separate headline. Concerns SPAK and the PM's family, not PS-PD.
Said by: Sali Berisha
Source: A2 CNN · Jan 2025
Endri Shabani (then Nisma Thurje leader) accuses PD of a public agreement with PS on amnesty and the Electoral Code. Documented part: PS-PD amnesty deal (Top Channel 2024). Electoral Code part: not supported by any source read. PD's Spaho replied: 'S'kemi bashkuar votat me PS' (we have not joined votes with the PS).
Said by: Endri Shabani
Source: Balkanweb · 1 Nov 2024
Berisha says Rama proposed power-sharing in April 2021 and that acceptance would have spared him non-grata status and his son-in-law's imprisonment. Berisha's account only; no Rama reply in the article. This is a claim of an offered deal, not of mutual protection.
Said by: Sali Berisha
Source: Balkanweb · 27 Oct 2023
Cases that cut against the claim of a pact: votes to lift immunity, prosecutions pushed by one side against the other.
Headline: Berisha asks SPAK why it does not arrest PS group member Taulant Balla. A PD leader pressing for action against a PS figure. Body not opened; date not on page.
Source: A2 CNN · UNDATED
Headline: Berisha says he will not join votes with Rama against the justice system ('Reform through Venice'). Statement of non-cooperation on justice votes; undated, search summary places it in 2025.
Source: A2 CNN · UNDATED
PD backed SPAK's arrest request for PS deputy Belinda Balluku; the PS majority voted against, 82 against and 47 for (Citizens.al). Balluku remains a case subject; the vote, not a court, blocked the arrest. This is outcome evidence: an accused PS official avoided arrest through a parliamentary vote, while PD pushed for it. Per-party counts from the earlier file (79 PS + 3 PD) remain unverified.
Source: Citizens.al · 12 Mar 2026
Tirana mayor Erion Veliaj arrested Feb 2025, formally a defendant July 2025, sent to trial Sept 2025 (OCCRP; Citizens.al). Veliaj's party affiliation is not verified in this run. Used as a case where SPAK charged a sitting local official; the trial status is not known beyond a May 2026 partisan filing.
Source: Citizens.al · 10 Sep 2025
Former president Ilir Meta (non-PS, LSI-linked) charged by SPAK in May 2025 with corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and concealment; in pre-trial detention since October 2024 (per A2 CNN and Gazeta Tema summaries). Meta calls the case politically motivated. Shows SPAK charging a figure outside PS-PD.
Source: A2 CNN · May 2025
SPAK formally charged PD leader Sali Berisha (per ABC News Albania headline 'Berisha leaves SPAK, former prime minister officially accused'). Trial start reported in a Yahoo headline, date not confirmed. Berisha denies the charges and calls them politically motivated.
Source: ABC News Albania · 2024
Assembly lifted PD leader Sali Berisha's immunity at SPAK's request, with the PS majority voting for it and PD boycotting. Count disputed: 75 (majority) vs 108 of 113. Carried from existing files; JURIST page not re-opened (HTTP 403 earlier).
Source: JURIST · 21 Dec 2023
Per a search-result headline, PD MP Enkelejd Alibeaj backed SPAK's request to lift Sali Berisha's immunity, arguing that the political standard should be applied regardless of guilt. The per-deputy vote is not in the sources read. The headline's reference to five PS deputies could not be verified.
Source: Shqiptarja · Dec 2023
Assembly approved SPAK's request to arrest former deputy PM Arben Ahmetaj with 117 votes, 3 abstentions, after the Council of Mandates recorded 'PS-PD dakordësi'. Both parties acted together to permit prosecution. Per-party split not in the sources read.
Source: Shqiptarja · 14 Jul 2023
PD and LSI backed full removal of Saimir Tahiri's immunity to allow arrest; PS backed only a partial lift. Parliament then refused the arrest (Exit.al headline). Shows PD pushing a prosecution of a PS-linked figure and PS blocking the arrest. Count not verified. In May 2018 he was placed under house arrest by a court (search summary).
Source: Exit.al · 24 Oct 2017