Speaker of Parliament Niko Peleshi has announced the postponement of the plenary session by one week due to the tense situation and acts of violence during protests across the country.
In his statement, Peleshi called on political leaders and citizens to exercise restraint, reflect and engage in dialogue, stressing the importance of maintaining public order.
He also expressed concern over the involvement of young people and minors in violent incidents, calling for them to be protected from hatred and confrontation.
Full statement:
“I consider it a duty to the state and the nation to share with the public an explanation regarding today, a scheduled plenary session day for the Albanian Parliament, as well as my position on the situation our country is going through.
With the responsibility of ensuring a peaceful parliamentary session, in which every MP has the constitutional and legal opportunity to fulfil their duties, and in the face of an unprecedented situation of violence against state institutions, public property and citizens’ private property; in light of concerning information from law enforcement institutions regarding dangerous scenarios that are seriously undermining public order, security and peace in our country, and in order to avoid providing any grounds for provocation, I have decided to postpone today’s scheduled plenary session by one week.
Today is the day when every public official, every political party, every non-governmental organisation, representatives of academia and the business community, and every responsible citizen of this country must appeal to reason and our national instinct for peace.
We live in a democracy. We have different political views. We have different interests. We argue, we get angry, we protest. But above every difference stands a shared national interest, a common homeland: our Albania.
Our university students, school pupils and children will inherit this country, along with the responsibility to make it better.
They have the right to demand more and better from us.
They have the right to be heard more.
They have the right to take part more frequently in the dialogue forums they themselves earned through raising their voices, such as the University Pact Roundtable.
Our students will be the first generation of Albanians to enter adult life as Europeans, as part of the great family of the European Union.
That is why the recent incidents of violence, arson and looting, which are deliberately being attributed to them, are causing great harm to all of us.
Albania has waited a long time.
Albania has worked hard.
Albania deserves to join the EU as an equal.
Nothing is guaranteed, because this process is not entirely in our hands, and not everyone is a friend or well-wisher. This is especially true at a time of geopolitical tensions and struggles for influence, particularly in our troubled Western Balkans region.
This process may be obstructed by malign forces, but it must never be obstructed or undermined by us, the modern Albanians of the 21st century.
Therefore, as Speaker of the Albanian Parliament, as a citizen and as a student of the December 1990 movement, I call for restraint and reflection.
Our society must pause and respond with one voice to keep minors and high school students away from violence.
They must not be fed hatred. They must not be shaped by street violence. They must not be left in the hands of dark forces whose intentions are anything but aligned with Albania’s interests.
On this issue, we must all stand together, regardless of political differences: Democrats, Socialists or those with no political affiliation.
Children are a country’s highest priority. The way they are educated today will determine what Albania becomes tomorrow.
Once again, let us appeal to reason. Let us demonstrate that we hold our country’s destiny in our own hands, alongside our strategic allies, with the ideals of the Albanian National Awakening in our hearts.
Let us sit down. Let us talk. Let us discuss and debate the future, never forgetting that, above all, we are all Albanians.”
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