Minister Gonxhja, who once served as deputy mayor of Tirana Municipality when Edi Rama was mayor, today sidestepped the question “Will you be the candidate for Tirana?”, but neither did he flatly deny it.
Erion Veliaj’s participation in the Socialist Party Assembly is not a matter on which the party has the decision-making power, Minister Blendi Gonxhja said during a meeting with young people. He expressed sorrow and solidarity for the mayor, who is in the prison hospital in Fier.
“Anyone who does not feel sorry for the situation Veliaj is in, and for his health situation, is not up for debate from the standpoint of human solidarity. In every respect, the removal of his freedom and of his right to take part in activities and in his normal function as an elected and earned office does not come from the PS. It has been made clear, with all our solidarity and sensitivity, that it has nothing to do with us. It must be settled in the legal relationship with those who defend Veliaj’s rights,” Gonxhja said on ‘Sot Live në Shqipëri’ on Report TV.
“I am very sorry that we have this serious mishap weighing on the efficiency of managing the capital. We live in this city. I know the Tirana municipality and its apparatus very well. This serious mishap, with the mayor in pretrial detention, costs the capital a great deal. It also has an electoral cost, because the city has for quite some time not had its mayor in the office. We cannot replace the courts,” Gonxhja said.
Asked whether he would run for Tirana municipality, the minister said he has no personal ambition or project, but would answer the Socialist Party if it asked him for something like that.
“Throughout my whole life, it has never happened that I have declared, spoken, or pleaded that I have a personal project; I cannot do that and display it. I am one of many PS deputies. Not everyone knows Tirana equally, not everyone has the feel for Tirana. Like many of those who militate, work and get involved, I would not leave anything undone to help the cause and the project. If the PS had a project, there is no question that I would be here to make my contribution. We must be very careful that this does not sound like Blendi demanding something that Blendi does not decide. It is very important that we have good choices, that we have resolved the problem before us and that we channel it into an energy that brings good to the country and does not harm Tirana,” Gonxhja said.
So he did not confirm it, but neither does he deny his candidacy in Tirana.