Prime Minister Edi Rama at today’s plenary session of the Assembly:

 

We’ve just assisted once again at the opposition’s drowning in a glass of water. While waiting for the opposition to re-emerge on the surface of the water in the glass, I want to make a very brief explanation regarding this absurd situation.

Firstly, it is high time that the way the Parliament’s service providing television space functions in relation to Parliament’s works, changes.

To date, we are in the conditions of a communist service in the conditions of democracy. Public television cannot have the exclusivity over the space of parliamentary life.

As in any normal country, as in any democratic state, the Assembly must have its own television, it must have its own service for all those concerned to receive this service.

As in any normal country and democratic state, where in every democratic parliament this service is provided through the Assembly screen, both for plenary sessions, for committee sessions and for many other things, it is time to do so in Albania.

As in any other country there cannot be 25 cameras in the Assembly hall. There is no need for all these costs and for all these human resources of all media players. A TV direction of the Assembly is enough to give access to all those who want to broadcast every activity of the Assembly fully, partially, all day, for only 3 minutes, etc.

The law that imposes on public television the free provision of the Assembly’s activity, is simply an adoption of a communist situation in the conditions of democracy. This is where everything start and ends.

Even the demand of public television to sell, or to impose on private televisions a bill or the signal transmission with the ATV logo, is actually something that belongs to the past. Because no television, whether public or private, can have this exclusivity, and in the conditions of competition public television cannot impose on its competitors its logo as a competition.

This is very simple, it suffices that the Assembly gets it from public television – for as long as it needs to set up its necessary infrastructure – and all media players can receive it without the need for cameramen, for directors, just like ERTV does and transmits it free for everyone.

As for censorship, the attempt not to let the people hear the opposition orators, this is a comedy which ERTV broadcasts live every time the orators give it this opportunity. As we wait for them to get out of the water glass and return to this hall, we keep on with the Assembly’s works because our job is to continue carrying out the task given to us, to deal with problems, to deal with people, to deal with the needs of the country.

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I took the floor again to talk about a topic that I am very fond of and which is about how you depict Albania when you talk to a foreigner.

This has nothing to do with what used to be once called “discovering reality”, but it has to do with a very simple question: Whom are you serving?

For actually you aren’t even serving the interest of your Democratic Party as you are unable to understand this interest, let alone have the ability to understand greater interests, or be able to serve the interest of Albania, while you are removing the bricks of your party one at a time. It’s not me saying this. It’s your results that will continue to mark deeper loss if you keep not understanding what your role is on this scene.

Moreover, the fact that you don’t feel ashamed when you say the hateful term “ethnic Albanian crime”, makes me ask one question: “What about you, ethnic Albanian politicians? What are you?”

What are you who cannot tell the difference between the Europe of values, the Europe of challenges, the Europe we want for our country, with some racists in our current European policy and with some political agendas – which are at the eyes of everyone, they’re not conspiracies we discover – in today’s Europe, which aim neither more nor less but to counter the European project, for which we all are committed, only for their internal purposes in their countries and for the objectives of their agendas.

“Albanian ethnic crime” is a racist expression. It is an expression that we should abhor together. You instead, not only don’t abhor it, but you meet with those who use it, and then come and use it here. This is why I took the floor again. I didn’t intend to because the minister of Interior answered beautifully to you. You and all those who are able to hear will hear the real, concrete answer in the battlefield where crime is fought.

Doing politics with crime is lobbying crime. It’ not me who says this. Other much wiser, much better and much capable people than I have said this. You’ve being doing this for over 4 years, and this is why you are here in this situation, leaving this parliament to go and get votes, and always come back here with less feathers. It will be so, every time you go and get votes because you think you can fool Albanians.

You keep talking to Albanians in a way is if they didn’t live here. As if they didn’t have eyes to see, ears to hear, as if they couldn’t think and as if they needed you to explain them that actually “they share the same opinion with you but crime doesn’t allow them to express their opinion”. Namely, millions of people have no courage to speak, either by speaking or by voting, and you are the bunch of courageous people who are facing the crime. Have you gone nuts? Don’t you understand how much ridiculous the role of the opposition is becoming because of you? Don’t you understand how painfully ridiculous an Albanian opposition waving the flag of the “Albanian ethnic crime” is?

What is the meaning of “Albanian ethnic crime”? Crime is crime. It has nothing to do with ethnicity. Criminals don’t have a homeland, be they Albanians, British, Americans or whatever. The fact that Albanians are targeted and hit so hard in information sources and by anti-European mouths, doesn’t mean that chancelleries say this. You’d be surprised, if you heard what chancelleries say about you. But since you’ve lost also the ability to be surprised, you cannot hear the echoes of the impressions of all those who are today partners of Albania and support Albania in this path, despite the hardships and challenges they face.

If Albania were the homeland of crime, as you depict it here, do you think these partners of Albania wouldn’t speak? Wouldn’t these partners tell Albania that there is here a big problem that goes beyond everything and, therefore, this whole criminal caste that has usurped the government and parliament cannot have relations with us? Haven’t they done so with other countries? Haven’t they done so here, with some previous governments? They have, in one way or another.

How can it be explained that in 2013, when we were campaigning, the theme used at every meeting with the people from Tropoja to Konispol was “crime”? How can it be explained that in every public opinion poll, people’s main priority was crime? How can it be explained that today, we are in quite different conditions in the eyes of public opinion? Because of palm trees? Because of my paintings? Because of the beautiful uniforms of the police?

For which reasons, the Albanian people – asked not by us but by international institutions – consider the State Police in 2015 and in 2016, the most trusted institution in Albania? Are Albanians stupid and you are the brave ones? Where did you find the courage?

I do not want to go any further for it is your business to say what you have to do with the courage. Lack of courage and hiding in front of the truth kept you hostage in a tent that led to the results you got on June 25. And instead of looking for the reasons of the defeat that dismantled the Democratic Party in the crime and drug money, go back with your memory to the tent and start the analysis from there. But, not only you don’t have the courage to go back to the tent, but you started talking again as if you were in the tent. I can barely look at you, because the tents with which you come out here doesn’t allow me.

I am absolutely convinced that you can do a lot more for this country, and I am absolutely ready to do what we all together can do to improve what we as a majority don’t do well. I am absolutely available to understand and accept everything we don’t do well.

I’ve never said and you will never hear me say it from this pulpit, as long as I’m here, that we finally triumphed over crime, because that doesn’t happen. This is a continuing battle. Please, if you want to have a little credibility, get out of the tent! Close the tent you keep open in your head, although physically you have come out of it, and face real arguments and truths because Albanians are not stupid.

Here are witnesses to what I told you in 2013, 2014, 2015. I told you to go on, but you would come here smaller in number, and not because we had bought the votes in the meantime. How can the votes of thousands of people be bought? How do you get a majority, even bigger than the first term, by locking people up?

You are aware of your campaign rallies. You took us to the point that we were thinking about how we could help you. Only a bunch of people was following you. Was it because people were locked in because of the fear of crime and couldn’t follow the ghost of the New Republic? What are you doing? We’re all Albanians. For better or worse, it’s not that we’re devils and your angels, or the other way round. Come to your senses and let’s talk here about things that make sense.

Enough with these tales. We really need you to challenge us. If it was for the close political, pragmatic interest, for the ultimate result, we need you blind, deaf and loudspeakers who repeat the same tape Albanians have been listening to for years, and that’s why they can barely listen to you and to those who are with the Party Democratic and cannot part with the Democratic Party, like somebody who cannot part with himself. Come to your senses and stop embarrassing us!