The Socialist Party National Assembly, scheduled to meet on Saturday, November 14, at the Lalzi Bay, must provide answers beyond party organization. The main issues are: the Tirana question, the Rama–Veliaj relationship, and the response to the protests. These now require clear and firm positions.
Erion Veliaj is presumed innocent until a final court decision. This right must be protected unconditionally and must not be influenced by his relations with the prime minister. But criminal responsibility and political responsibility are two different matters. Demanding that Tirana have functional leadership does not mean declaring the mayor guilty.
Our position has been that Veliaj should be defended while at liberty. We still hold this view today. Court decisions may be publicly criticized and challenged through legal means, but in the meantime they must be respected.
But Erion Veliaj must rise above personal anger and open the way for a solution for the Municipality of Tirana. If he cannot carry out his duties, resignation would be an act of political responsibility. It would not constitute an admission of guilt, nor would it mean giving up his legal battle. Especially since, under the law, Veliaj cannot run again because he has already served his third mandate. So someone else from the PS will run, and should not have to take on the destructive administration of Tirana for a year.
Prime Minister Rama must understand that his responsibility does not end by calling for Veliaj’s departure. The prime minister and chairman of the PS bears political responsibility for the people he has promoted, for the way he has reacted to the crisis, and for the solution he will offer citizens. If the situation continues without a deadline, the political cost goes directly to his office. Therefore Edi Rama cannot let this event pass at the PS Assembly as “the noise of a car on the boulevard”. He must finally decide what to do with the capital’s municipality, considering that citizens want administration and services, and also the fact that this is the largest municipality in the country and that it could bury the majority if they keep saying “we can’t remove Erion”.
Tirana cannot wait for the outcome of a personal conflict. Cleaning, transport, infrastructure, transparency of spending and public services require decision-making every day. The capital needs leaders who answer for their work, make decisions and take responsibility for the consequences.
Protests too must be treated with this same seriousness. The government must respond to concrete demands, listen to dissatisfaction, and show what will change. Labeling protesters and counting participants is not a governing program.
The media are discussing the possibility of changes in the cabinet. So far this remains a reported possibility, not a confirmed decision. If Rama decides to change the government, he must explain who has failed, what he is leaving for, and what concrete task the successor will take on.
On Saturday, socialists should hear a sincere assessment and decisions with deadlines. Veliaj has the opportunity to show that the interest of the city outweighs his post.
Tirana should not have to carry their conflict on its back. Veliaj should open the way for the city; Rama must guarantee a legal solution and answer for the result of May 9, 2027, especially for Tirana.
We have said several times that if the PS loses the capital, the central government has fallen politically./Spiten Prulli/