Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku has sharply criticized the situation in the capital, stating that Tirana has become a difficult city to live in as a result of poor management and the lack of basic services. Tabaku also addressed the clash between Prime Minister Edi Rama and Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj. According to her, this clash is not related to the public interest but to political and economic interests.
“Their internal war is of no importance to me at all. To me, both of them are gone. What matters to me is that today Tirana has no waste management, no 24-hour water supply. Tirana has been turned into a political plaything,” Tabaku said on Report TV. She stressed that in this clash it is the citizens who are facing the consequences, while both sides, in her view, are focused on their own interests.
“The tragedy is that citizens are caught in the middle of this war. And neither of the two, neither Veliaj nor Rama, has citizens on their minds. Even when he was outside the cell, it was the same situation. But today he is using it for his own political interests. Meanwhile, the other one wants him outside for construction permits,” the Democratic deputy said.
Tabaku also leveled accusations at the way local and central government functions, describing the concentration of decision-making and economic power in the hands of one person as one of the problems weighing on citizens. Another issue raised in the interview was the visit of Justice Minister Toni Gogu to the Fier detention facility, where he met with Veliaj.
“These people operate like a criminal organization; they send messages to one another and make threats. For me, the focus is on the citizens of Tirana,” she said. In conclusion, the Democratic Party MP linked citizens’ dissatisfaction and protests to the governing model built by Rama, claiming that Veliaj played an important role in creating and operating this political system. “The reason people are protesting is also the system built by Rama, in which Veliaj was one of the main players, one of Rama’s main copies.”