The state farewell ceremony was held today for the distinguished figure of Albanian politics, former Speaker of Parliament and academician, Servet Pëllumbi.
Prime Minister Rama laid a wreath of flowers as a sign of honor and respect for his memory, and expressed his condolences to the family members, friends, and relatives present, through a speech.
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Prime Minister Edi Rama: First of all, I would like to express my condolences to the professor’s entire family and relatives, and at the same time to thank Namik for generously sharing this responsibility of speaking about the professor, something I welcomed with great relief because I was completely unable to prepare a speech in the way a student should prepare one before a professor.
At the same time, also because I knew the professor only a little and knew him from a distance. In all honesty, I would like to recall here that my relationship with him was a typical relationship of mutual antipathy from afar, followed later by mutual sympathy in closeness.
For years, ever since I first saw him appear before my eyes, the professor represented everything I did not sympathies with conservative, Marxist Leninist, Soviet, and all those things that accompanied his image whenever it came to the attacks and labels directed at him. One of the most valuable lessons of my entire journey has been confronting the reality of the human being beyond labels and beyond the framing imposed on him in the public sphere. And to my surprise, I came to know a very progressive man, a man deeply kind towards anyone trying to do something differently, and a man who stood in solidarity with me during difficult moments, unexpectedly appearing on my phone screen and sending me encouraging words, helping me understand that beyond a difficult moment and beyond appearances, there existed a category of people who followed and assessed a certain situation calmly and truthfully.
When Beni wrote to me that the professor had passed away, it came as a shock to me for the simple reason that, I do not know why, I had become accustomed to the idea that the professor walked every day, and it seemed somehow predetermined to me that he would always continue walking. In those few occasions when I met him, I always found him in good form and always eager to speak about the subjects that were close to his heart.
Naturally, when a person departs, many things connected to them come closer. But I believe that even when this closeness of things, brought about by the moment itself, fades with time, the professor will remain a point of reference in the history of changes and of changing eras, as Namik mentioned, and undoubtedly also a point of reference for all those who one day will wish to understand the dynamics and the history of the Socialist Party itself.
What is even more important from my point of view is the memory he leaves behind. I believe that, whether aloud or silently, everyone who knew him remembers and will remember him as a good man, as an honest man, as a wise man, and above all as a warm-hearted man.
And so, I hope he will always be remembered not only by his sons, but also by his granddaughters, grandsons, and all his other relatives, while expressing with sorrow the wish that he may rest peacefully, as he deserved through the life he lived and through the memory he leaves behind.
