Speech delivered today in Parliament by Prime Minister Edi Rama:
Mr. Speaker of Parliament, one o’clock post meridiem has already passed and we are still waiting for the session to start. Although I have to say, today is the first time that the opposition has made an effort not to babble. It is an attempt to be encouraged. But at the same time I believe that we must find a way to comply with the regulation and the normal sense of coexistence here, in this room, without being forced to follow the opposition that grabs the pulpit beyond any rule.
It may be more appropriate to consider returning to the 60-minute norm at the beginning of the session, so that neither the opposition will find it hard to get to the pulpit nor the Parliament will be ridiculous because of the opposition, and we will not waste any precious time just waiting for the opposition to come back to reality from a babbling process that takes place every Thursday, here in Parliament.
I listened to what was said and I would like to make some very brief clarifications. Long time ago I had the chance to read a study on legislation and law implementation rate in the EU and it was very interesting to notice that countries with higher legality rate have fewer laws while countries with lower legality rate have more laws. The idea that the larger the number of laws produced, the harder the government works applies precisely to those countries where legality is a major issue and where increasing the number of laws does not have as consequence, by no means, an increased legality. We know that this is our own approach, and that is why we are here: we are here not to produce more laws but to produce more legality.
There is no doubt that we have brought and will continue to bring forth projects on law changes necessary to enact the radical reforms our country needs. For this reason, the remaining months of this first 4-year period will be spent on discussing and voting those radical reforms.
It is surprising how some people claim that income has not increased. It is surprising that those who have ruled this country and its finances can talk the way they are doing here. It is surprising that a party, which on June 23 received a very clear message, still continues to believe that “people can be treated as fools and the best way to make politics is to fool people”. Albanian people are a lot more than this and they showed it on June 23. For the same period of time income has increased neither more nor less than 150 million dollars. And there is no one but the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – our moneylenders– who can settle this once and for all. How come that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank would lend us money if our performance was what opposition claims to be?! How come the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank consider this relationship established by this government with its new program a fully-functional relationship in compliance with all parameters, if we did not achieve the target income?!
This is something every Albanian can understand. The same, every Albanian understands that taxes in Albania, for 97% of those who pay them, have decreased, not increased. And it is not us who say that, nor are figures but Albanians themselves. Ask them! Every time I have had a chance, I have told you to ask Albanians. Ask them using scientific instruments used worldwide and not only by asking those who hang around in the Military Central House courtyard because you will end up collecting wrong data and entering a blind alley. Albanians know, even those who voted you, because when asked about taxes, they reply: “Taxes have decreased.”
There are other very important data that you can collect using scientific methods, and those data are related to consumption. How come that low and middle-class consumption has increased? By what means? How is it possible for low and middle-class consumption to rise if purchasing power has not increased?
(… to be continued)
