Democratic Party MP Jorida Tabaku has described the property dispute in Vlora as a direct consequence of institutional failure, placing responsibility on the government and Prime Minister Edi Rama.

In a video published on social media, Tabaku said that after three days of public discussions, mostly half-truths had been heard, while the main issue had been overshadowed: state institutions had approved two different permits for two people on the same property.

According to her, one permit concerns a strategic investment, while the other concerns the development of the property. The MP stressed that both authorizations were issued for the same land and for different individuals.

Tabaku questioned how it was possible for institutions to have followed two complete procedures and issued construction permits to two individuals for the same property. She said responsibility should be sought from the property registry all the way to the highest levels of government, including the Prime Minister’s Office.

The MP interpreted the decision to expropriate the property and turn it into an olive grove as a way of avoiding an investigation into administrative responsibility. Tabaku said that no olive grove could remove the government’s responsibility for the alleged corruption in this case.

Speaking about the country’s property ownership problems, she said citizens had been waiting for years to register their properties and were paying millions of lek in taxes and bribes. According to Tabaku, the situation becomes even more complicated when the property has been acquired through a purchase or another transaction.

The Democratic Party MP described the incident in Vlora as a clear example of state chaos over property and the lack of legal certainty. She criticized the rhetoric and propaganda, stressing that no administrative investigation had yet been conducted, no one responsible had been identified, and no one had been held accountable.

Tabaku also asked which owners would be expropriated, questioning whether the measure would affect both individuals, just as both had been issued construction permits for the same land.

She concluded by saying that the rule of law cannot exist without respect for property rights.

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Belind Këlliçi stated that the Democratic Party has extraordinary support in the US. According to him, the venue was changed solely because the halls initially planned did not have sufficient capacity to accommodate the turnout.

MP Klevis Balliu, who is also in the US, described the turnout as extraordinary and indicated that there could be surprises very soon.

During their remarks, the MPs also stressed that “Rama is labeled the head of Europe’s first narco-state.”

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The Democratic Party has raised new allegations against Prime Minister Edi Rama, questioning how public funds are being used.

Genta Vangjeli, the DP’s spokesperson for anti-corruption affairs, said that while the head of government speaks about savings, sound management and financial responsibility, he appears in luxury vehicles which, she claimed, were purchased with citizens’ money.

The DP also published details about the vehicle in which Rama left Pogradec a few days ago, following the government meeting.

It was a Mercedes-Benz S, worth more than 100,000 euros.

According to Genta Vangjeli’s statement, the prime minister’s example is also being followed by his subordinates.

Data from Open Procurement, cited by the DP, show that Edi Rama’s administration has spent millions of euros on purchasing, renting or leasing vehicles.

The Democratic Party claims that more than 10 million euros spent on these procedures ended up in the hands of the brother-in-law of Durrës’ Socialist mayor, Emirjana Sako.

The allegation also concerns the latest procedure published a few days ago in the procurement register. It provides for the purchase of three vehicles for the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, headed by Delina Ibrahimaj, at a cost of 200,000 euros, converted according to today’s exchange rate.

The MEI vehicles will be supplied by the same economic operator, Mektrin Motors, a business owned by Emirjana Sako’s family.

According to the DP, these cases demonstrate the contrast between statements about savings and the practice of public spending. Its conclusion is that propaganda is accompanied by words, while in practice millions are spent on luxury; public funds are used for an administration that sets no limits on spending; and public contracts continue to be concentrated among a narrow group of operators close to those in power.

The Democratic Party has once again called on SPAK to investigate how Albanians’ money is being used.

The DP is demanding an end to propaganda, injustice, theft and corruption, stressing that Albanians are demanding justice.

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The Democratic Party has announced that the National Council will convene on Tuesday, August 27, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting will be held at the party’s headquarters.

According to the official notice sent to members, the agenda includes the presentation and approval of a platform for the party’s internal modernization, as well as the development of its digital infrastructure.

The document is expected to outline concrete steps to update the internal organization of the party’s structures, with a particular focus on integrating technology and digital tools into day-to-day political activities. The meeting is being held as part of the internal reorganization process undertaken by the Democratic Party headquarters.

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Democratic Party National Council Chair Julinda Emiri today accused Prime Minister Rama of leaving the capital without a museum, art gallery, theater or national circus. In a statement, she said the National Gallery closed its doors for reconstruction in October 2021 and, five years later, remains closed.

She stressed that the Democratic Party is seeking full information on the location of the thousands of works in the national collection, as well as the conditions in which they have been stored and conserved and the measures taken to ensure their security and monitoring during the years the Gallery has been closed. It is also seeking a final, verifiable date for its reopening.

Statement by Julinda Emiri, Chair of the Democratic Party National Council:

The Democratic Party strongly condemns the fact that the country has now been left without a National Gallery of Art for five years and demands full transparency from the government regarding the Gallery’s reconstruction, as it is one of the most important institutions of Albanian culture and national memory.

The National Gallery closed its doors for reconstruction in October 2021. In August 2026, five years later, it remains closed and under “reconstruction.” Meanwhile, the institution has a director, an administration, a budget, programs, calls for projects, competitions, a website and social media accounts. It has everything except the most important thing: open exhibition doors for the local public and foreign visitors.

Three years after the announcement of the reconstruction, in July 2024, Prime Minister Rama publicly announced from the construction site that the National Gallery was “being reborn,” with new exhibition spaces, a library, laboratories and a new concept for its halls.

Two years later, none of this has happened, and the Gallery remains closed.

The responsible ministry continues to issue tenders for reconstruction work, meaning that we are not close to completing the reconstruction but are instead at some unknown stage.

This cannot simply be considered a delay.

After five years, citizens have the right to know what has happened to this project, why there have been such delays, how much it has cost and when it will be completed.

The Democratic Party calls on the government to publicly answer the following questions:

-What was the original deadline for completing the reconstruction of the National Gallery?

-How many times has this deadline been changed or postponed, and for what reasons?

-What was the project’s initial value, and what is the total value of the contracts and tenders conducted to date?

-What additional work was approved during the project’s implementation, and how much did it cost?

-Have the contractors complied with the contracts and deadlines?

-Have penalties been imposed for the delays and, if not, why?

-Who supervised the work, and who is responsible for the project’s drawn-out delays?

-When will the National Gallery actually reopen to the public?

But there is another issue, one even more important than the reconstruction and the Gallery itself: Where is the national collection of Albanian art?

The Democratic Party is seeking full information on the location of the thousands of works in the national collection, as well as the conditions in which they have been stored and conserved and the measures taken to ensure their security and monitoring during the years the Gallery has been closed.

These are not political questions concerning day-to-day politics. They are basic questions about a public institution, a national asset and a project funded with Albanian citizens’ money.

A National Gallery is not a warehouse for paintings; it is the visual memory of a nation. A government cannot keep this treasure hidden behind scaffolding, delays and lies for five years while issuing new deadlines, tenders and promises.

The Democratic Party demands the full publication of all contracts, tenders, contract addenda, deadlines, cost estimates and payments made for the reconstruction of the National Gallery from 2021 to the present. We are also seeking a final, verifiable date for its reopening.

As a participant in the protests for more than two months, and as an actress not only on stage but also in the resistance against the demolition of the National Theater, I know that the citizens in the square are there for this as well. They are there because of corruption not only in roads, AKSH or the police, but also in art and culture.

Edi Rama must resign over this as well: as a former artist, a former culture minister and the current prime minister who has left the Albanian capital without a National Museum, a National Gallery of Art, a National Theater or a National Circus. Not even the most brutal occupiers did this to Albania.

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The Democratic Party has sent its structures across the country instructions on organizing a civic response to the government’s project to revise the administrative-territorial map.

The document calls for cooperation with municipal councilors from every political force that opposes reducing the number of municipalities.

According to the DP, the initiative proposed by the majority undermines the principles of local self-government. For this reason, the party is calling for citizens to become involved in areas where the merger or dissolution of municipalities is envisaged.

The instructions also stipulate that DP branches must immediately hold meetings with Democratic councilors and draw up a joint plan of opposition at the local level.

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Gazment Bardhi, head of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group, reacted to the Socialist Party’s decision to oppose extending the mandate of the Special Commission on Administrative-Territorial Reform. He accused the governing majority of seeking to further centralize power through new changes to the country’s administrative divisions.

Bardhi said publicly that, since the beginning of the process, the Socialist Party’s aim has not been to improve the quality of local government or services for citizens. According to him, the majority has been driven by an interest in securing electoral advantages and further centralizing power.

He said the refusal to continue the work through consensus demonstrates an unwillingness to consider the views of affected communities, local leaders and representatives, civil society, as well as Albanian and international experts.

In his response, the head of the Democratic Party Parliamentary Group also rejected the initiative to abolish 15 municipalities. According to Bardhi, such a measure cannot be called administrative reform because it weakens local government, moves services farther away from citizens and accelerates the country’s depopulation.

As he stated, the Democratic Party firmly opposes the abolition of the municipalities of Rrogozhinë, Divjakë, Patos, Fushë-Arrëz, Memaliaj, Prrenjas, Belsh, Cërrik, Dimal, Poliçan, Klos, Libohovë, Këlcyrë, Maliq and Selenicë.

STATEMENT BY THE HEAD OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY PARLIAMENTARY GROUP, GAZMENT BARDHI

According to Bardhi, the Socialist Party’s vote against extending the mandate of the Special Commission on Administrative-Territorial Reform once again proved that the majority has never sought a transparent, inclusive process focused on citizens’ interests. He said that, from the outset, the goal has been to secure electoral gains and increase centralization instead of strengthening local government and services.

According to him, the refusal to continue the process on the basis of consensus showed that there is no willingness to listen to the affected communities, local authorities, civil society, or Albanian and international experts. Bardhi stressed that a reform with a direct impact on citizens’ lives cannot be carried out through unilateral decision-making and without broad public consultation.

He emphasized that every community must express its opinion before Parliament makes a decision that affects it. According to Bardhi, consultation is not only a democratic norm but also a constitutional requirement.

As he recalled, the Constitution stipulates that the boundaries of local government units cannot be changed without first seeking the views of their residents. Such changes must also be based on shared economic, social and cultural interests, as well as the historical tradition of each area.

Bardhi stated that the country needs a reform that empowers local government, brings services closer to citizens and creates concrete development opportunities for all communities. According to him, Albania does not need a model that shifts power toward the center, undermines local autonomy and uses municipalities as tools for short-term political interests.

He called for any administrative-territorial reform to be based on dialogue, consensus and the public interest. According to Bardhi, the process should produce a long-term and sustainable solution in line with European standards, rather than a political project dictated by short-term electoral calculations.

In conclusion, Bardhi said the Democratic Party would continue to defend citizens’ right to be heard and to have local government that works in their service, rather than in the political interests of the governing majority.

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Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha placed territorial reform at the center of a conference with experts, where he also presented the position of the DP working group on the territorial division.

He referred in particular to the protest by residents of Poliçan, who opposed the Socialist Party’s proposal to dissolve the municipality and burned PS membership cards.

According to Berisha, territorial reform is of decisive importance for local communities and Albanian society, while its current implementation has been transformed into a mechanism that has contributed to the depopulation of the country. He said that Edi Rama had realized this was a lost battle and that the reform had created widespread dissatisfaction.

Berisha said that the resistance of Poliçan’s residents should also encourage other communities which, according to him, the government uses for electoral interests and the centralization of power. He called on residents of other municipalities to follow the same example, stressing that a tyrant cannot make decisions to the detriment of citizens’ interests.

Berisha said that the 2014 territorial reform, which he described as an anti-reform, had become a major factor in the emptying of Albania. According to him, it was transformed into a pillar of Vaso Çubrilloviç’s platform for removing Albanians from their own lands.

Referring to the writings of the racist and criminal academic, he said that at the heart of this platform were the deterioration of services, the lack of infrastructure and making life as difficult as possible for Albanians in their settlements, including their lands in Kosovo.

He recalled that the 2014 territorial division reduced the 410 local government units—municipalities and communes combined—to just 61 municipalities, or local government units. Berisha described this as the harshest blow against rural Albania and, more broadly, against the country, since, according to him, there can be no developed Albania without a developed rural area.

Berisha claimed that more than 45 percent of the population had lost services and direct links with a government represented by people elected by them. He added that residents had also lost the prospect of living in the communes where they had their homes, while the development of rural Albania had come to a standstill.

As an example, he mentioned the former commune of Shëngjergj, which is now the village of Shëngjergj, saying that not a single lek had been invested in the area from 2013 to the present. Berisha stressed that Shëngjergj and the surrounding areas have some of the country’s most extraordinary mountain tourism potential, but the road beyond Shëngjergj is difficult to pass.

He called on the media to visit every former commune, claiming that no investment had been made there. Regarding Baldushk, Berisha cited as the only investment what he described as Erion Veliaj’s deception: the construction of a museum which, according to him, was found filled with bags of bay leaves, with the aim of stealing 400 million lek.

Berisha also mentioned Preza and Ndroq, where, according to him, life and development have remained at a standstill, leaving residents with only the option of leaving. He said these communities had no services, while their market had not been facilitated.

According to him, 3.2 billion euros were stolen through the paving stones used in city centers. Berisha declared that with 3.2 billion euros, more than 8,000 kilometers of roads could have been built in rural Albania, along with more than 1,000 educational facilities and health centers, all properly registered.

He concluded by saying that over the past 14 years, the investments carried out could be counted on one’s fingers.

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Invited to the “New24” program, Democratic Party MP Saimir Korreshi shared details from the internal electoral process in his political force, while also commenting on the civic movement that has filled the squares of Tirana for 52 days.

He recounted that the proposal to become part of the race came completely unexpectedly from chairman Sali Berisha, adding that none of the candidates were informed in advance. “We all found out in those moments who would be on the list. I personally received it as a sign of trust from the head of the DP and had support that I myself had not anticipated. I think Berisha chose to place people with weight and clear identity, not names without a profile,” Korreshi said.

Shifting the focus to electoral issues, the lawmaker emphasized that it is essential for the Democratic Party to compete with open lists. He accused the majority of manipulating the rules for numerical gains, starting from the moment coalitions were removed. “The decision to abandon parliament was an own goal for us. Likewise, the territorial reform has fundamentally failed and we cannot allow it to be closed in this ugly manner. Tomorrow in Parliament, the DP will forcefully raise this debate, because it is clearly seen that the majority views the new division only as a calculation for electoral victory,” he warned.

Regarding the mass gatherings, Korreshi clarified that the Democratic Party has not led the protest, but stands fully behind it. “We cannot take the flag of a movement that the people themselves started. We are there, in absolute support of every demand. All our sympathizers must be in solidarity. However, in the square there are individuals who try to seize the microphone and impose slogans that do not represent the majority. Those staged voices cannot speak for all the protesters,” the MP concluded.

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This Monday, protesters gathered in front of Parliament, as they had announced a day earlier. Meanwhile, the Parliament holds the penultimate plenary session of this session, which is expected to start at 12:00.

The Democratic Party, which has boycotted the last two plenary sessions, will convene its Parliamentary Group today.

After fiery debates, the parliamentary group seems to have entered a phase of reflection. Gazment Bardhi has sent a message to deputies instructing them to prepare for the possibility of participating in the session, but the final decision will be taken at headquarters one hour before the start of the Parliament session, where the focus of discussions is expected to be the resolutions of justice institutions.

“On Monday, July 20, at 11:00, we will hold a meeting of the DP Parliamentary Group at headquarters. A plenary session is scheduled for Monday at 12:00. Prepare in any case for the session, so that we are ready if the parliamentary group decides to participate,” announced the head of the Parliamentary Group, Gazment Bardhi.

The Democrats started boycotting the sessions on July 2, the day when citizens surrounded the Parliament building.

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