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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The Socialist Party parliamentary group has asked the Speaker of Parliament and the Secretariat for Procedures, Voting and Ethics to take disciplinary action against MP Agron Shehaj, as well as to refer the case to the Special Prosecution Office (SPAK).

The request comes after Opportunity Party MP Agron Shehaj today snatched the only copy of the agreement with the US on military equipment and then ran off.

According to the SP, MPs had been informed that the document could be read only in the “Gerti Bogdani” hall, after signing a confidentiality declaration, and that they were not entitled to take copies of it outside the designated premises.

The request states that Agron Shehaj refused explanations from Parliament staff, forcibly took the physical copy of the document and left with it.

According to the Socialists, a Parliament adviser who tried to stop him and retrieve the document fell on the stairs and sustained injuries.

“Through his repeated violent and aggressive behavior, MP Agron Shehaj endangered the adviser, who was left defenseless in the face of this violent and unacceptable conduct. Such conduct seriously and intolerably jeopardizes the safety of Parliament staff while they are performing their duties. The MP’s act of forcibly taking the classified document and removing it from the hall constitutes a serious violation of legislation on classified information,” the request states.

The Socialist Party is also asking for the case to be referred to SPAK for the possible assessment of several criminal offenses, including the misappropriation or unlawful obtaining of classified information, forms of unlawful appropriation of the document, obstruction of a public official in the performance of their duties, and other offenses related to the protection of classified information and national security.

“Furthermore, pursuant to the provisions of the Criminal Code, Articles 139-142, 294-296 and 235, the case should be referred immediately to the Prosecutor’s Office, in this instance the Special Structure Against Corruption and Organized Crime, on suspicion that citizen Agron Shehaj has committed the following criminal offenses:

the misappropriation or unlawful obtaining of classified information, given that the document contains information protected by law;

(ii) theft or other forms of unlawful appropriation, due to the manner in which it was taken;

(iii) robbery, because the document was taken through the use of force or threats against the person holding it;

(iv) obstruction of a public official in the performance of their duties, because force was used against a public employee while carrying out their duties;

(v) the document relates to a state secret, and in this case specific provisions on the protection of classified information may also be examined, which provide for more serious criminal offenses, especially when the act jeopardizes national security and the suspect may have intended to hand this material over to other actors, who have not been identified by us but should be investigated by prosecutors,” the request states.

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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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Asked whether she would leave the party like Marjana Koçeku, following the dissatisfaction she has expressed with Prime Minister Edi Rama’s leadership, Spiropali said that her place is in the SP and that those who have harmed the party should go where they belong.

“We are working. What matters is what we will do for Albania. I am in the SP, I have been in the SP and I will always be in the SP. Everyone who seeks a better Albania should be in the SP; they have done so historically and they have done so today. Those who have caused damage to the SP should go where they belong,” Spiropali said.

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