Peleshi postpones plenary session by one week and calls for restraint: Minors away from violence, Albania above political differences

Speaker of Parliament Niko Peleshi called on citizens and political forces to remain calm and reflect in the face of tensions and violence in the country. In a public statement, he explained why the plenary session scheduled for today had been postponed by one week.

Peleshi said he considers it a state and national duty to explain his decision to the public and express his position on the situation Albania is going through. According to him, the session must take place calmly, so that every member of parliament can perform their duty within the framework provided by the Constitution and the law.

He linked the postponement to what he described as unprecedented violence against state institutions, public property and citizens’ private property. Peleshi also referred to troubling information from law-enforcement institutions about dangerous scenarios that, he said, seriously threaten public order, security and peace. He added that the decision also aims to avoid any cause for provocation.

The Speaker of Parliament called on state officials, political parties, nonprofit organizations, representatives of academia and business, and citizens to turn to reason and the national spirit of peace. He stressed that in a democracy, people may hold different beliefs and interests, clash in debates, become angry and protest, but Albania remains their shared interest and common country.

Peleshi focused on students, pupils and children, who will inherit the country and the responsibility to improve it. According to him, they have the right to demand more, to be heard more often and to participate more regularly in the joint forums they won by raising their voices, such as the University Pact Roundtable.

He said that today’s students will be the first Albanians to begin their lives as Europeans, as part of the European Union. For this reason, Peleshi said, deliberately linking them to the recent events of violence, arson and looting harms society as a whole.

Speaking about the path toward the EU, he said Albania has waited and worked for a long time and deserves to join as an equal. However, according to him, nothing is certain: the process does not depend only on Albanians, and not everyone is a friend or well-wisher, especially during a period of geopolitical tensions and efforts to exert influence in the Western Balkans. He warned that malignant forces could obstruct this journey, but modern Albanians of the 21st century should not damage it themselves.

In his capacity as Speaker of Parliament, citizen and student of December ’90, Peleshi called for restraint and reflection. He called for a joint response from society to keep minors and high school students away from violence, hatred, the influence of street violence and the dark forces that, he said, have objectives that are by no means Albanian.

Democrats, Socialists and the unaffiliated must stand together on this issue, he said, because children are the country’s highest interest, and the way they are educated today will determine tomorrow’s Albania. In conclusion, Peleshi invited everyone to turn to reason, sit down for talks and debate the future, holding the fate of the country in their hands alongside its strategic allies, guided by the ideal of the Albanian national spirit of the Renaissance figures and without forgetting that, above every difference, they are Albanians.