The clash over the leadership of the Municipality of Tirana took another turn after the Prime Minister’s Office intervened publicly to legitimize Erion Veliaj’s decision to dismiss Anuela Ristani from the post of acting mayor. The government’s reaction presents the issue as settled by the Constitutional Court, but in essence once again highlights the crisis in the functioning of the country’s largest local institution.
Official reaction from the Prime Minister’s Office
Manjola Hasa, spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office Media and Information Agency, stated that Erion Veliaj remains the mayor of Tirana, referring to the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
According to this position, the decision to dismiss Anuela Ristani is based on the fact that Veliaj’s mandate is still considered to be in force and that he remains the head of the Municipality of Tirana.
Government calls the situation a “legal absurdity”
In its reaction, the Prime Minister’s Office described the situation created at the Municipality of Tirana as the result of confusion produced by the institution being run remotely while the elected official is in a prison cell.
According to the official version, this has imposed a form of governance through subordinates at a distance, which the government describes as an unacceptable “legal absurdity” for a European democratic standard.
The Constitutional Court’s interpretation at the center of the debate
The Prime Minister’s Office insists that the Constitutional Court has spoken clearly and that Erion Veliaj is the head of the Municipality of Tirana. In the same argument, the government claims that exercising the mandate is linked not only to the elected official’s individual right, but also to the right of the capital’s voters.
This interpretation is being used to justify not only Veliaj’s formal status, but also his interventions in the administration of the municipality, despite the situation that has long paralyzed the institution’s normal functioning.
The prime minister’s position leaves no room for interpretation
In the statement made public, it is said that this is also the prime minister’s opinion, who sees the issue as a matter of respecting the Constitution and the will of the voters.
According to the government, on this point there is no room for interpretations by other parties. However, the very need for such a political reaction shows that the conflict over legitimacy and the actual exercise of powers in the Municipality of Tirana remains open.
The Prime Minister’s Office reaction does not ease the uncertainty that has accompanied the leadership of the Municipality of Tirana, but instead shifts the debate to the way the boundaries between mandate, representation, and the practical exercise of local power are being interpreted.
At the center remains a political and institutional question: who is really leading the Municipality of Tirana and with what legitimacy, beyond the government’s statements.