The Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, extended his hand of cooperation to the opposition Democratic Party (DP) a few days before the start of the new parliament in the scheduled meeting of the old parliamentary group and the new one that was elected after the April 25 elections.
Rama said in the joint meeting that despite the behavior or the rhetoric of rivals, the SP remains open for cooperation. He has even warned his deputies that if they fall prey to provocations, incite conflict or set a bad example in the Parliament or Committees, they will be a concern for him and the SP, which he heads.
“The third term should not be like the first two, not even in the parliamentarian hall. The opposition can do whatever it wants, we will do what we have to do in order to push forward the reforms and laws that are needed for the benefit of the citizens,” he said.
As a matter of fact, this is a repeated offer made to the DP chairman, Lulzim Basha but the new offer is made against the background of the decision of the US State Department which declared the veteran leader of that party as persona non grata. Berisha is considered as the arch adversary of Rama and there are expectations that he would be expelled from the new parliament.
“The hand of cooperation is unconditional with the DP, regardless of the behavior, rhetoric or actions of rivals. Verbal conflict should no longer be the main topic of political and parliamentary life,” Rama said.
He did not mention the restitution of the parliamentary mandate by the DP deputy, Mark Marku who said on Friday that DP is the domain of Sali Berisha and Lulzim Basha.
In the meantime, the SP head has urged all former and new MPs to take a critical look at themselves in order to ‘grow up’ and become stronger.
He warned the new and old deputies that any interference or influence in tenders or in the employment of incapable people will be considered hostile to the intentions of the Albanians who voted for the Socialist Party. He said that this team must fight nepotism and clientelism and that it must answer to the citizens for their problems.
Analysts considered Rama’s speech a continuation of his demagogue behavior which brings nothing good for Albanians especially against the background of the Covid pandemic which has taken alarming dimensions.
The figure of the newly infected people exceeded 950 persons over the last 24 hours as the number of fatalities continues to rise, according to official figures. / argumentum.al
