The US Ambassador to Albania, Yuri Kim has once again called s on the Prime Minister, Edi Rama and the Chairman of the opposition Democratic Party (DP), Lulzim Basha, to recheck their lists of deputies so that Albanians with dignity take the seats in the 140-member parliament in September. This statement was made by the head of American diplomacy in Tirana through an editorial published in the newspaper ‘Panorama’ on Wednesday.
“I will ask Edi Rama, Lulzim Basha and other leaders to check the lists once again to make sure that when they return to Parliament, people can be proud of their representatives,” Kim said, calling on the parties to rise above their party interests and find compromise to cooperate.
Ambassador Kim claimed that she has realized from the meetings she has had with Albanians in different areas of the country that they are fed up with the old methods and they want real change. “Albanians want an end to corruption; they want a justice system where no one is above the law; they want criminals to stay out of government and politics; they want a place that encourages young people to stay because of opportunities; they want a country that moves forward, not backward.”
The participation of the opposition in parliament is good news, said the Ambassador, but she demanded that the new parliament address the recommendations of the OSCE / ODIHR report on 25 April.
Kim said corruption in Albania has been used as a weapon by state and non-state actors to buy politicians. According to her, these actions contradict the principles of the United States.
These comments come after the veteran leader, Sali Berisha has refused to abandon his parliamentary mandate and has attacked the US Ambassador that her request made to Basha to remove him from the DP parliamentary group was prompted by the disclosure of a corrupt affair in which Kim’s and Rama’s acquaintances were involved.
Basha has made no comment on Kim’s demand but Berisha has revealed that he had spoken on that issue with the DP chairman, who has said nothing.
/argumentum.al
