Prime Minister Edi Rama recounted today for the first time a meeting with Sali Berisha in 1992 when his political opponent was President.
In an interview with journalist Nikollë Lesi, Rama said that at that time he wrote a letter to Berisha asking him to meet the famous Albanian painter from Montenegro, Gjelosh Gjoka, but the President of the time set a condition that he also be at the meeting.
Rama says that while talking to the painter, Berisha said that the deputies of the DP group “are all with the cabbage of communism in their heads.”
Edi Rama’s story:
“You know what you reminded me of? You reminded me of an episode that I may have told you and perhaps I will say publicly for the first time that I have never told you before, but I have told some people. At the very beginning of the Democratic Party’s rule, Gjelosh Gjoka came to Tirana. Gjelosh Gjoka, a famous Albanian painter from Montenegro who lived in Germany and had a dream of meeting the Doctor (Berisha), he had a dream. And I told him, look, I said “only if I make a request, you can meet him, otherwise he will not meet him”.
“No”, he said, “don’t get involved in this work because because I had those positions at “Koha Jonë” my work was known”. “Okay”, I told him, you know! But he tried, tried, tried, he couldn’t do it, he got desperate. And he said to me: – Did you say that to me as a joke? No, I said: – I am convinced that if I ask you, he will give you an appointment.
“I’ll try it once,” he said, and I wrote him a letter about Gjeloš. The introduction of who he is, what others, others and sent it to him through someone I know who was in charge. And that someone comes to me and says: “Yes, I gave it to him, but he has a condition.” “What condition,” I said? “He can wait for Gjeloš if you are with him.”
I said: Me? “No”, he said: – That’s what he said! “I’m coming with him”, he said “I’m waiting for him!”. And I said to Gjelosh, “listen, this is a difficult thing for me to go and meet him now. Because I’m meeting him! The communist Dava”. He said: “No, this is the case that you definitely have to come”, and so on and so forth “he’s inviting you and what does it matter”.
To cut it short, we both went there to the Presidency, to the office with Gjelosh Gjoka, a surprise. And we sat there, he was talking about Gjelosh, I was talking about him. But in the meantime, he was talking so that I could listen, of course!
And he says to him, “Professor, have you ever seen the parliament these days that you’ve been here?” The parliament was completely DP there, you mean the first parliament after ’92, “have you ever seen the parliament?” Gjelosh in vain interjected, “I’ve seen it!” – “What does it look like?” he said? “Well, it’s good, it’s the beginnings, it’s good! “What good? How good? Where’s the good there,” he said. I said, “What’s this guy saying!”
“It’s not good there”, he said. “Everyone there has the cabbage of communism in their heads” – he said. I don’t want to say all the details because he spoke and with names that I was completely surprised, he called them his own, he tore them into pieces and took them off the table and went to get Koha Jonë. He had it on the table. “You see this”, – he said. I was there. He told him, – “here is the cream of the brains of this country”.
“But instead – he said – of working for this country and helping me and supporting these processes, they stay there, and they grumble-grumble-grumble all the time and complain about them”, he said. For these people. “They are right”, he said “but where can I find them, because these people don’t come”, he said. I said this is a fraud of a higher level than it is possible. This was in 1992″.