“Rama is erasing what he failed to develop,” Memaliaj mayor says: They called us a burden on the budget, the money is needed for AKSHI

Opposition to the plan to merge municipalities has also included Memaliaj. Following an appeal urging citizens to take part in the announced protest, Mayor Albert Malaj said he would support their cause.

In a statement on social media, Malaj, the only Democratic mayor in the south of the country, argued that Memaliaj ranks as the second-largest municipality in Gjirokastër County both in terms of population and area and, therefore, should not be dissolved.

He criticized the way the new territorial reform is being carried out, stating that the process has not been transparent and that no public hearings have been organized with the residents of the 53 villages that make up the municipality.

“I have presented all the arguments showing that such a decision leads to the loss of our identity, traditions and culture, slows the pace of economic development, further fuels depopulation and runs counter to the spirit of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, at a time when Albania is seeking membership in the European Union,” Malaj declared.

According to him, the decision to merge Memaliaj with the Municipality of Tepelenë has crossed every limit in its treatment of residents. The mayor also addressed several questions to the Territorial Reform Commission, which considers the Municipality of Memaliaj a burden on the budget.

“To the commission that sees the Municipality of Memaliaj as a burden on the budget, I want to ask one question: what are Albanians’ taxes for? Are they for AKSHI, for tunnels that cost tens of millions of euros more than projected, for luxury concerts or for charter payments?” he said.

The mayor of Memaliaj said that such decisions do not serve to build a community’s future, but merely remove from the map what, in his view, they have not known how to develop.