The political clash intensified further after Erion Veliaj claimed he had been transferred from Durrës prison to Fier prison for political reasons. Following this development, the head of the Opportunity Party, Agron Shehaj, leveled strong accusations against Veliaj and Prime Minister Edi Rama, reading the episode as a sign of cracks within the ruling establishment.
Shehaj’s reaction after Veliaj’s move
Shehaj reacted after Veliaj spoke of a “police abduction” and a “political transfer” from Durrës prison to Fier prison, without his consent.
According to Shehaj, the move came after Veliaj’s recent public positions, which he linked to open tensions at the top of the government.
Political accusations and harsh language toward the government
In his statement, Shehaj described the situation as the “disintegration of the criminal power” that, according to him, has ruled the country in recent years.
He claimed that Veliaj’s transfer was decided by the Ministry of Justice, presenting the event as the government’s immediate reaction to the Tirana mayor’s positions.
What Veliaj said before the transfer
Shehaj also referred to Veliaj’s earlier statement on the student protests, in which the latter had called them “the end of one world” and not “the end of the world.”
He also mentioned Veliaj’s position on developments in Serbia, saying that the mayor had welcomed the change of the autocratic regime there and had expressed hope that the same thing would happen in Albania.
The call for the matter to go beyond a political clash
At the core of his reaction, Shehaj called on Veliaj to confess, in his words, “all the wrongdoing” committed together with Rama.
He added that those responsible should face justice, turning the statement from a comment on the transfer into a direct political accusation against the government and its leading figures.
So far, there has been no detailed public version from the institutions on the reasons for Veliaj’s transfer from Durrës to Fier.
In the absence of a full official clarification, the event is being used as political evidence by the sides to feed their narratives about the internal struggle within the ruling establishment and its relationship with justice.