In an analysis of political developments in Albania, CUNY University in New York lecturer Grid Rroji stated that Prime Minister Edi Rama’s power has waned and that his removal from the executive leadership is now only a matter of time. According to Rroji in an interview for “Vip Magazine”, recent developments regarding the judiciary and public incidents show a loss of control and calm on the part of the head of government.
Commenting on a recent video in which Rama was involved in a confrontation with an Albanian passenger on an airline flight to Naples — where he grabbed him by the shoulder and neck and then handed him over to Italian authorities — Rroji described this behavior as evidence of a loss of self-control. He called the prime minister’s reaction to an ordinary citizen a “ridiculous manner” for a state leader and claimed that he behaved like a “rogue.” “Edi Rama today understands that he is a hostage. Edi Rama today understands that his power is no longer even on paper… his power is a vision,” declared Rroji, adding that the prime minister is realizing for himself that his power is slipping away and the situation is burning under him. According to him, both Rama and other political figures such as Sali Berisha have had mental health problems at certain moments in their lives.
The scenario of the silent agreement and the deepening of violence In addition to the gradual decline of power, Rroji also raised a second variant of the developments behind the scenes. He emphasized that it is not impossible that within the structures of the “Paris of Tirana” a silent agreement has been found to incite tensions and incite bloodshed in the country. According to the pedagogue, this escalation of violence could serve as a mechanism by the political class to guarantee that it remains at the center of the political game at a time when control is slipping out of hands.
“The behavior shows a loss of calm, which shows that the Paria feels the problem and above all has lost the full control it once had over all the instruments,” he said. In his analysis, Rroji gave special weight to the international factor, focusing on the expected arrival of Washington’s new diplomatic representative in Tirana. He underlined that the Albanian political class fears the arrival of the new American ambassador, expecting his words to be more serious and with extremely direct statements.
“We are on the verge of the arrival of the new American ambassador and the Paria has the expectation that his word will be more weighty and has the expectation that there will no longer be such a large space to act as it has today when there is no ambassador,” said Rroji. For this reason, according to him, local politics is trying to prepare the ground before the new diplomat arrives in Tirana. The “real owner” of the state and the capture of the justice system
Rroji linked this situation to what he described as the complete capture of the state and the judiciary by the “Tirana Paria”. He mentioned the Supreme Court’s decision to keep former mayor Erion Veliaj in prison, claiming that there are no independent judges or decisions in Albania since everyone has sold out to this system. According to him, Veliaj is paying the consequences of this same system he is a part of, while pointing out the paradox that he still remains in office and carries out releases from detention. Further, the lecturer claimed that the “Tirana Paria” itself has sold the system to a new “owner”, which he named as an international crime syndicate.
According to Rroji, this new owner demands daily tribute and controls everything with an iron fist, creating great pressure on local politicians who now function as his mere “chehalars.” According to Rroji, the solution requires Albanians to become aware and no longer accept this formal, captive system, but to build institutions that serve national interests.
Regarding the SPAK action that seized a villa of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku in the south of the country and the opposition’s demands to lift her immunity, Rroji stated that the prosecution’s hesitation comes because segments of SPAK are directly controlled by the prime minister. He explained that providing evidence for the courts is made difficult because the judiciary itself is corrupted by a vetting process carried out under pressure from the Tirana Paris. Rroji described Balluku as a character who is being anathematized and magnified in the media as “Gogol of the Tirana Paris”, claiming that she has created a criminal clan at the head of which she stands alone. However, he argued that it is a mistake to think that she constitutes the only evil, since she is only a product of the way the entire Tirana Paris functions. According to him, the rumors circulating say that she has 300 villas and the seizure of one of them is not a concern for her, while she has also included members of her family and circle of friends in this clan.
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In conclusion of his comment, Rroji claimed that the same problems and vileness as Balluku are shared by the 140 MPs and all local and central public officials. He added that Mrs. Balluku has taken great power from Edi Rama and has now held him hostage in a way, but underlined that the entire system operates on the same principles where politicians have become mere “pranksters” of certain interests.