One day after Erion Veliaj asked permission from SPAK and the Socialist Party to take part in the Assembly meeting, a clear political signal has come from the socialist camp: the party is trying to keep its distance from the personal troubles of the mayor of Tirana.
Balla draws the line: PS outside a personal battle
Taulant Balla, head of the PS parliamentary group, publicly commented on Veliaj’s situation and said that facing justice must remain personal. In essence, his message was that the Socialist Party should not be drawn into this process and cannot serve as a political shelter for anyone.
The statement comes at a delicate moment for the majority, as Veliaj’s request to participate in the Assembly pushed the debate beyond an individual issue and toward the relationship between political power and justice.
‘He is my friend,’ but not under the party’s symbols
Balla said he considers Veliaj a friend, but stressed that this does not change the essence of the issue. According to him, facing justice must be done without involving the symbols and structures of the PS.
“The PS is not anyone’s shield in facing justice and, from this point of view, Veliaj is my friend, but in facing justice he must do it himself, without involving the fist and rose of the PS,” Balla said.
Veliaj’s request and the message it produced inside the PS
A day earlier, Veliaj asked SPAK and the Socialist Party for permission to take part in the Socialist Assembly meeting expected to be held on Saturday. That move itself raised political questions, as it placed the party before the need to show whether it would carry an institutional burden for a matter that is officially presented as individual.
Balla’s response suggests that, at least in public, the PS is trying to avoid identifying itself with this battle. It remains to be seen whether this position will remain only in statements or whether it will also be reflected in the political decision-making of the socialist forum.
The position expressed by Balla places the emphasis on the divide between personal responsibility and the party’s logo, a line that is usually declared loudly in public whenever pressure from the justice system reaches high political figures.
In this case, the real test for the PS is not the wording of the statement, but how consistent it will be in relation to Veliaj’s request to appear at the Assembly under the party’s symbolism.