Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at today’s parliament plenary session  

First and foremost, I am really impressed by courage of the previous speakers who dared addressing parliament on behalf of Albanian citizens. It is Albanians themselves and those delegated to speak on behalf of the Albanian citizens and it is less than two weeks ago when Albanians clearly spoke, certainly deeply shocking a part of those, who unfortunately are unwilling to listen and therefore it is comical that some dare speak on behalf of Albanians.

They speak in the name of Albanians, claiming that they abandoned politics, they boycotted elections or on behalf of the young people, claiming that a small number of them headed to the polls. However, the election turnout figures are somehow different.

Albanians haven’t abandoned every one of us, but just a part of us. As to the part I represent together with the lawmakers on the left side, Albanians haven’t abandoned us, but they have supported us more than ever before.

For the sake of truth, today I feel a sense of relief as we have come together to pass a project we have wished to approve many years ago and a project we been fighting for every single day over all these years. The wage structure when we took office was as follows; the average salary was 259 euros, down from 444 euros in Kosovo, 504 euros in North Macedonia, 537 euros in Serbia and 726 euros in Montenegro. Not only Albania ranked bottom, but the difference with other countries in the region was big. Today’s wage structure is as follows: Kosova 504 euros, North Macedonia 705 euro, Serbia 763 euro, Bosnia and Herzegovina 890 euros, Montenegro 792 euros, whereas with today’s vote in parliament, we clear way to increase the average wage to 900 euros within a year until next April.

Of course, other countries may increase their salaries until then. However, Albania is most likely to top region in terms of high salaries. This is what we are doing today.

Everything else is nonsense; the very same nonsense we come across since the first day we took office and embarked on this effort.

Why didn’t deliver on this previously and why the country lags behind other countries in the region? This is for a very simple reason, because we had to cope with situations that the region has not been through, as the earthquake hit Albania and not the region. It was a dramatic situation and it suffices looking into the significant part of the state budget funds we were forced to divert to post-earthquake reconstruction programme and to house tens of thousands of quake-affected families for one to realize why it was impossible to create the opportunity to increase wages earlier.

And then came the pandemic, and then the Russian aggression (on Ukraine) and I would like to remind all of those watching us that it is the government hand keeping the electricity price for small businesses, the households and a good part of business unchanged.

What household consumers pay is not the real electricity bill value. Albanian households and small business pay exactly the same pre-crisis electricity rate. The energy price has fallen in the international market, yet it still higher than the pre-war rates  and the government has been fully willing to keep paying, while with the summer season nearing, energy consumption will significantly rise and we would be forced to reconsider the electricity tariffs for households consuming more than 800 KWh per month.

However, we can afford paying the difference in electricity price for now and this payment is significantly high.

But the simple truth is that the country’s economy has grown, unlike what has been said in this very hall and unlike what some used to predict here.

Unemployment rate currently stands at the pre-crisis level. Consumption has increased. The claims suggesting that people cannot afford purchasing are rejected by the consumption rate. Consumption has edged up. Exports have grown.

Albania with an average monthly wage of 900 euros will be a completely different Albania. It is as simple as that! And this different other Albania is being built and becoming a reality every day, every week, every month and every year; another and different Albania that is making the headlines of the leading international media as a destination to be explored and a destination to be visited.

Take a look at the data from the Rinas airport, what is going on at Rinas airport to figure out what Albania of today is compared to Albania of the past.

Our decisions to constantly increase the minimum wage is definitely an undeniable factor and the decision we are making to increase public sector wages is certainly an undeniable factor. And these two factors make the private sector wages to grow day by day, but one need to look into and search for such facts. 

There could be no more spectacular response than the one Albanians gave to everyone on May 14! It was spectacular!

I am not going to comment on what was already said and will be said about the nominal wages, but I would briefly comment on the proposed increased wages for lawmakers and cabinet members, because what I happened to listen a bit earlier here is really hypocritical. It is a baffling hypocrisy, because one cannot determine the wage hierarchy according to their wish. The wages hierarchy is determined according to logic deriving from a certain expertise and therefore it is a pyramid of wages in place.

The salaries, the pyramid of wages should be exactly like the proposed one, because it has its own logic and, for me – I fortunately know many people in this group who deserve the salary they receive. They fully deserve it and they are actually some of them, not only one or two of them. I am telling you. Probably not everyone, but they are more than or two. They are people who earn their living through the monthly salary, because this is not the place for criminals, this is not a place for drug traffickers; this is not a place for drug users. This is a place where certain individuals shouldn’t have been here indeed, and should have been gone by now instead, but this is not the place for the scumbags. This is a place for normal people, who for a thousand of reasons they are here, including a majority of you. 

For me, the new wage reform should be approved today and should enter into force on the day when salary increase takes place.

This is my position! I am very proud that we are delivering on the pay rise and I would like to wholeheartedly thank all the lawmakers, because it is primarily of the lawmakers over all these years, as it is an outcome of reforms, legislation and it is outcome of efforts. I would also like to thank all the cabinet members, who have been working since day one in 2013, because this is the outcome of tremendous efforts and I would like to reiterate that I do actually reject the pay rise decision for lawmakers and cabinet members to enter into force immediately. 

Thank you!