Prime Minister Edi Rama’s speech in Parliament’s plenary session:
I would like to draw the public’s attention to a meaningful example of the daily hypocrisy of those continuing to absent themselves from parliament, although the National Theatre issue was their latest warhorse. They are absent to go to Vlora and show how Vlora is being “burned down.”
But time will prove soon whether Vlora is being burned, or is marching along the path of its irreversible rebirth. It will just take patience and time to wait during the remaining months until the upcoming election. Meanwhile, whoever can afford going over figures and basing judgment on facts, it is suffice to compare the situation and the crime rate in the city of Vlora today and five years ago. Like night and day! Of course it is not as peaceful as a sunny day. A lot remains to be done, yet it is a day and no longer a night.
The reason I took the floor is a letter MP Florian Mima, former Economy Minister, has sent to Lulzim Basha while serving as Tirana Mayor, asking for the privatization of Metropol Theatre (or the Variety Show Theatre Florian puts it) in interest of MP Astrit Veliaj. The only national asset under the administration of Tirana Municipality and transformed from a degraded bar coffee into a metropolis theatre well before Lulzim Basha took over as mayor was put up for privatization, not for Private Public Partnership, neither to allow construction of a new metropolis theatre in exchange of Mr. Veliaj’s contribution and legitimate benefits after investing in building a new theatre building, but to erect a high rise building.
Of course, the variety show is an exclusive domain of the Democratic Party and it is absolutely the legitimate right of Lulzim Basha, Florian Mima and whoever else in that building to have their last say on the variety show. But in this case, this is one out of hundreds and thousands of examples we can illustrate to their hypocrisy when speaking and compare it with the stock of their work, which clearly shows how hypocritical is their attempt. It is completely hypocritical when shouting that they will defend the National Theatre, a completely ruined building, which can’t be neither a theatre, nor a monument of culture. I will provide an example. The theatre’s stage is only 8 meters wide. Do you know what is the width of the stage of new Turbina Theatre? It is 24 meters. Compare it to only 8 metres of the National Theatre’s stage. Even if we were to hypothetically consider that the building can be restored, which is impossible and unnecessary, yet, in the best case scenario, the stage’s width would be again only 8 meters.
The Albanians should simply and only distinguish between us. We plan to turn an already ruined public property at the city’s centre, which nobody refers to, into one of the region’s most beautiful and modern theatre building without violating even a single square meter. It would suffice to see the new stadium for the people to see and distinguish us with those who turned the Metropol Theatre into a subject to their endless variety shows.
The can go on playing variety shows and keep lying those who have delegated their votes to, who believe every word they say without thinking at all. We will continue to firmly move forward and break all of these barriers that arise between us and people in a desperate attempt to despair people, by placing entire attention on people and speaking with language of facts and concrete evidence.
They are the same ones who lamented when the old National Stadium was demolished and they will be the ones who will put hats, glasses, scarfs, coats in the summer so that the people won’t recognize them whenever going to the stadium to see the national team’s games.
Thank you very much!
