The chairman of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, during a video message, accused Prime Minister Edi Rama of attempting, in what he called the Prime Minister’s “Sunday monologue,” to conceal the report of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Albania, by allegedly failing to mention any of the concerns raised in the report regarding elections, corruption, and the European integration process.
According to Berisha, the report “brands the elections” in Albania as a process in which the line between state institutions and party structures disappeared, where, according to him, vote-buying and illegal financing took place.
The Democratic Party leader also stated that the European Parliament document raises concerns about the lack of Parliament’s role in the integration process, the situation of the media, the treatment of minorities, and the high level of poverty among Albanian children.
He also addressed criticism directed at the “Open Balkan” initiative, which he described as an attempt to undermine the country’s European integration process.
According to Berisha, Rama also avoided making any comment on the IBAR report and discussions among European Union member states, while claiming that for months Albania has been facing increasing conditions and new requirements on its path toward integration.
At the end of his statement, Berisha mocked Rama’s comments regarding the media and startups, accusing the Prime Minister of controlling the majority of media outlets in the country and using propaganda to manipulate public opinion.
“In his Sunday monologue of deception, Edi Rama focused on May 9 and once again attempted to deceive Albanians by concealing, through all his media and in his monologue, without uttering a single word, the report of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee. A report in which the elections are branded as a process in which the line between state institutions and party structures disappeared, votes were bought, illegal financing took place, etc., etc. The report once again raises the issue of the lack of Parliament’s role in the integration process, while demanding that Parliament have a central role. It denounces the government’s attitude toward minorities, toward the media, and its irresponsible attitude toward Albanian children, half of whom, according to the report, live excluded or at risk of poverty. ‘Open Balkan’ and other initiatives, such as the Vučić-Rama letter in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, are strongly condemned as attempts to undermine the integration process. Therefore, Edi Rama concealed a fundamental European Union document on Albania. Likewise, he did not utter a single word about the IBAR and Coelho report, which is being reviewed repeatedly without agreement on its final version, while more and more conditions and demands from member states toward Albania have been added over the past five months until today. In his monologue, he spoke about a startup, which apparently is the sun of the media. According to Edi Rama, who controls 90% of the media, today the opposition receives 60% of the airtime. This means that Edi Rama pays the media, declares them strategic investors, gives them millions so they can favor the opposition — a major deception just like Diella in the fight against corruption,” Berisha said.
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