Prime Minister Edi Rama’s remarks at Parliament session on Monday:

 

I was actually informed about another session of Parliament and I did not even imagine that the session about the contract on the Butrint national park would last so long and that the Butrint park actually had so many admirers, ardent defenders precisely among the very same individuals who are to be directly held accountable for all the damages they have inflicted upon not only Butrint park, but upon every other cultural and natural heritage sites all over the country.

First and foremost, Butrint was declared a national park under an initiative I launched when serving as Minister of Culture. So, Butrint was put under protection back then on my initiative.

The park’s borders were changed following construction of the road and a construction wave of unauthorized buildings in the area of Ksamil and the park’s borders were readjusted upon a request from the UNESCO, so that all the degraded parts because of the mass illegal constructions were removed from the park’s area and everyone knows the architects and masterminds of these illegal buildings all over Albania. 

Now you dare to take the floor and allegedly protect the cultural heritage sites.

But seeing you taking the floor here and claim how the Albanian-American Foundation would allegedly rob or take Butrint park away, the only reason I am actually delivering these remarks is to apologize to the Albanian-American Foundation and all its founders and all those who have been committed over the years to contribute to the Foundation without expecting anything in return, because the Foundation is as such and the U.S. legislation is as such and the initiative which originates since the regime change is as such.

We will keep doing the right thing and the legislation we are adopting today is extremely important as it introduces our cultural heritage into a completely different scope and it is crucially important that the Albanian-American Foundation is taking over this project, just like it is crucially important that the whole strategy is changed so that the cultural heritage-generated revenue is used to support projects on restoration and preservation of the cultural heritage.

The ones designated by the United States of America for significant corruption and undermining democracy dare now speak about this issue. 

Your hostage-taking era is over. You are precisely where you deserve to be, your own biggest hostage.

This is what you wished for and this is what you actually got, remain hostage to your own self and live all together this way. 

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Prime Minister Edi Rama’s reply to opposition lawmakers at Parliament session:

Mrs. Tabaku (DP lawmaker), I was actually speaking about the Butrint national park, yet it is most likely you were not paying attention to what I was saying and of course I am responding to a set of certain accusations just levelled by another lawmaker. However, this is not a big deal, as I will be here and I can provide more explanations.

The cause and effect relation or reasoning you establish is actually groundless, while the fact that the map of protected areas had remained unchanged for over 30 years until 2018 and for 20 years when it comes to the Butrint national park or, as I already stated earlier, since when I used to serve as Minister of Culture and when I proposed to include Butrint on list of protected area and create the national park. The map of protected areas had indeed undergone big changes because of the illegal constructions, as I already said. Meanwhile, I have no idea why you oppose the strategic investors, but everyone knows what they represent as a category and everyone knows what they are needed for. I am not going to explain them, but I will provide two examples.

The first example is that the urbanized part of the town of Ksamil has been removed from the map of Butrint national park and the area in question was removed under certain reasoning under supervision of UNESCO, which, as I earlier said, demanded that the borders of the protected areas are reviewed and readjusted for reasons I already mentioned. So, not only haven’t we “eaten away” the protected areas, but we actually found them partly eaten away, as was the case with the Butrint protected park, which was ‘bitten” by the illegal buildings that you encouraged. We have expanded the map of protected areas, starting with the decision to protect Vjosa River bed by actually cancelling the permits your previous government had issued to construct hydropower plants.

The other example I would like to bring here; You described the former Qemal Stafa stadium as an iconic stadium. What sort of icon was Qemal Stafa stadium? Because the stadium you still remember was indeed the very raping scene of an icon. That icon was right there. I don’t know whether you ever go to the stadium, but if you do you would definitely see the icon which is still there. The whole central deck of the stadium is the only remaining authentic structure from Gherardo Bosio’s original design. In other words, the whole authentic and original part of the stadium built by Italians or Albanians, but under an Italian design, except for the parts added during the communist regime, is still there. The rest of what you call the iconic stadium consisted of additional structures built during the communist regime and had nothing to do with Gherardo Bosio’s original design or the Italian icon.

I would say the same to those who still raise the outcry regarding the National Theatre building. The only thing I regret is why I didn’t demolish it earlier, but it took 20 years to do so. 20 years wasted for an ugly structure that used to stand there and which had no values of whatsoever and which took the national theatre stage hostage for 20 years.  A theatre, which, just like it was the case with the national stadium, no international theatre troupe agreed to act, because it failed to meet any security standards.

You comment on the strategic investors, while forgetting, or pretending to forget, that this is a blessed country that we should do whatever it takes to turn it into a major tourist destination.

It was yesterday or two days ago when an agreement was signed to turn Tirana Hotel into Intercontinental Hotel. The famous high-rise that you spared no word against – and that’s why it turned out to be a very beautiful one – will become a Marriott hotel. The rest is set to become Hayat Hotel. The demand for five-star hotel beds is around 14000 beds. So the total is 14,000 beds. But you keep claiming that hotel prices are surging for the Europa Conference League final. And you are doing so in a bid to protect Italian and Dutch consumers from the price increase in Albania.

Take a look at the increased number of the international arrivals in our country this year and compare these figures with the tourist numbers last March. Take a look at the increasing influx of the air passengers from and to Rinas airport instead of making up plights for Butrint park, the national theatre, the stadium.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama’s second reply to opposition in Parliament regarding Butrint park:

I harked back to the past, Mrs. Tabaku, because it was you who forced me go back to the past while speaking about the icon you miss so much and I would just like to recall you and everyone else the icon of nostalgia. Many words are said and many claims are made on behalf of nostalgia, yet the latter is not the best advisor to consult with in such cases.

I didn’t actually mention any correlation between the strategic investors and Butrint park, as there is not any correlation indeed. What I said is why do you keep opposing the strategic investors? I don’t understand, because a strategic investment primarily goes through a long process and not every supposed strategic investment is finalized with signing a contract, precisely because a very strict, incredibly demanding procedure in place and based on all the legal norms, and not only, but also on the goal to make most of the investment in favour of the public interest.

This is also the case with the Durres port investment project, when it comes to a state-owned asset. You are calling and demanding that an inquiry parliamentary committee is set up to look into the investors. You should weigh your words. How can this possibly happen in the first place? Or is this to force investors to flee and never come back to Albania?

Second, when it comes to strategic investors who seek to invest in private properties, this is a completely different scope, a completely different terrain and of course it would have been the best for Ksamil not to develop in a barbaric way and it would have been best  – and I am glad to go back in time again – but the flag holder of this barbarism is exactly in this vey hall and he is sticking to you for more than 30 years.

Last, the difference between the beauty and the ugliness is an essential difference and it is precisely this making the difference among many things if you are to actually look at what used to happen in the past and what is happening now.

You claim you are not opposing the Foundation. Who else but the Foundation are you opposing in this case?  Who were you levelling accusations against at the parliamentary inquiries? Why do you vilify the world’s leading architects? Why do you do so? Why do you vilify him alleging that he is my personal friend?! I am very proud to be his friend and for you to know he has been serving as Prince Charles advisor on archaeology for years and when I met Richard Hodges for first time at Butrint site with Rothschild Foundation he used to serve as Prince Charles advisor on archaeology.

Why do you oppose the proposed bill? The bill on Butrint park management includes none of what you allege, as it is not part of the law at all and has nothing to do with it. Why don’t you back the draft law on Butrint par management if you are not actually opposing the Albanian-American Foundation? If you have nothing against Michael Granoff, who you have granted Albanian citizenship, why don’t you vote for the proposed piece of legislation on Butrint management and deal with the rest later? We can deal with the rest later and I am ready to report and testify to the relevant parliamentary inquiry committees also due to the experience I accumulated thanks to you too. However, I would invite you to vote for the law on Butrint park management.

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PM Rama’s third reply to opposition lawmakers:

You talk about them now, but what they dreamed about was an Albanian state where the right to property ownership was guaranteed. In this very hall, you represent the political party that destroyed the right to property. They dreamed about an Albanian state where everyone was equal before the law, yet you lacked the courage to open the secret state police files even though you held office for so many years. I would like to just remind you of the fact that it was this ruling majority to disclose the communist-era state secret “sigurimi” files and if the former politically persecuted individuals and their families are granted today access to these files, this is because and thanks to us, and not thanks to you, as you kept these secret files closed.

Third, they fought for a just Albania, where justice was in the sense of governance beyond simply and only the rule of law.

And to conclude, they also wanted an Albania oriented to the West and not to the East, to the United States of America and not to the Soviets.

You personally represent the anti-American side today and you sided with the one you elevated again to the position of the leader of the Democratic Party and instead of the DP logo he notoriously bears the U.S. designation for significant corruption and under-miner of democracy. When one thinks about all of these or when I think about all these things, it sounds really strange listening to you making a list of people who died in the communist hell and calling on us to join you. No, you better join them. If you really respect them, join them and if you take the floor to speak here or when you raise the old ragged anti-American flag on the streets, saying that the U.S. is wrong, just think for a second what Xhelal Koprencka would actually say and what the other one you name would actually say.  So would invite you to reflect on everything you have personally stated in support of that very ragged flag you are seeking to raise and fly on top of the roof of Albania’s opposition and only then you can rightly enough speak about those communism killed and to whom I just like you bow with the deepest respect in the capacity of the official who has not only the duty to remember and show compassion towards all of those who ended up in the circle of the communist hell. And I would like to remind you again, it took us to assume office for the secret police files to open, for the former landowners to receive compensation, and even revive the remembrance monuments and sites. 

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PM Rama’s fourth reply to DP lawmakers in Parliament:

Lawmaker Alizoti left the parliament hall and I have noticed he always shies away, not only when facing me, but also in other cases. However, this is not a big deal. One of the things the communist regime unfortunately did was that the anti-communists followed the lead as they started taking things personally, although the other focuses on the argument. Claiming “you killed us” reflects lack of argument. It is just like communists used to say about their own victims. The only difference is that there is the lack of opportunity for someone to retaliate or revenge by killing others, because if so, there would have been someone who would do the same, if not Mr. Alizoti himself.

I don’t credit myself with any special merits; however I know best that when I and the late Ardian Klosi collected the signatories for the first two-point petition ever signed in Albania. First, the figure of Enver Hoxha be reviewed; second, all the politically-persecuted people be released. We submitted a copy of the petition to the President’s office, adjacent to the Academy of Arts, and we handed the second copy to the “Rilindja Demokratike” newspaper, which refused to post the petition, exactly because it deemed the political prisoners as the scum of the society.

Second, it is true that a law was adopted. However, how did you enforce that law? How many former politically-persecuted people passed away without receiving a single penny in compensation for serving long prison sentences, and how many others actually were awarded compensation without spending a single day in jail, but they were entitled to such compensation as family members, direct descendants or, God knows what, just because they had established relations with influential people within your government. This is a fact. It has nothing to do with who am I or who you are. This is about who we and you are politically. Not personally, but politically. This is a fact.

Alizoti urges me not to politicize things. Why am I here then?

You take the floor here pretending as if you are holding the remembrance torch. The torch of remembrance can be held through deeds and not words. How dare you speak about Xhelal Koprencka and Fadil Kokomani while still raising the ragged flag bearing the designation right in middle of it instead of the DP logo? The very flag you are raising actually bears the U.S. designation for significant corruption. Who are you seeking to fool? Don’t you feel responsible for this?