The joint meeting of the government with the parliamentary group has been accompanied by tensions and clashes. The Prime Minister admitted that there is a gap between the government and the citizens, while he asked for an end to the internal conflicts in the Socialist Party.
The closed-door meeting between the government and the socialist parliamentary group did not pass without tensions. Beyond the public reflections of Prime Minister Edi Rama on the protests of the last few days, the discussions in the hall were accompanied by strong criticism of the ministers, calls for self-reflection and a fierce clash with the deputy Erion Braçe.
According to sources from the meeting, Rama has admitted that the government is facing a disconnection from public opinion, while he has demanded that the socialists stop the internal conflicts, which, according to him, are harming the Socialist Party itself.
In his speech, the prime minister did not spare criticism of some members of the cabinet. He expressed dissatisfaction with the way the Ministry of the Interior of Besfort Lamallari has managed the recent protests, while also bringing the example of a citizen who had waited three years without receiving an answer to an investment request, using it as an argument to criticize the work of the Ministry of Agriculture directed by Andis Salla.
But the criticism did not stop only at the government. Rama also addressed the deputies, asking them to speak openly in the meeting about the problems that, according to him, are discussed only in informal conversations.
“Tell them here what you discuss at the tables”, the prime minister is said to have told the deputies.
One of the most significant moments of the meeting was Rama’s return to the phenomenon he described as the “elbow fight” within the Socialist Party. He warned that the clashes between the socialists are damaging not only the image of the party, but also the political position of each of them.
“Everyone should understand that the attacks between each other do nothing but reduce the shares of our joint enterprise, including the shares of each of you”, Rama is said to have declared during the meeting.
His statements come at a time when the prime minister himself, in a public appearance after the meeting, admitted that there is a gap between governance and public opinion, arguing that this is the reason why a new approach to citizens is needed.
However, the meeting took another turn after the intervention of deputy Erion Braçe. Sources from the parliamentary group indicate that Braçe raised concerns about the way appointments are approved in the Assembly, saying that MPs are asked to vote for candidacies without first getting to know them, without discussion and without information on the merit or experience of the candidates.
As an example, he brought an appointment to the Supervisory Council of the Bank of Albania, where, according to him, only after the vote was the family relationship between two people elected by the Assembly learned. Brace said that the same practice is followed for other boards and commissions.
Initially, Rama responded by emphasizing that he had delegated the responsibility for such appointments to the deputies himself and that he had not interfered in the process. But the debate did not end there.
Brace persisted in his criticism, while the discussion escalated into a verbal clash with high tones between him and the prime minister.
According to the sources, Rama responded to the MP with the words: “It’s been a long time since we’ve been petting you.”
The clash was interrupted only after a recess requested by the head of the parliamentary group, Taulant Balla. After the resumption of the meeting, Erion Braçe chose to leave demonstratively, no longer participating in the discussions.
Friday’s tensions show that, beyond the challenges that the prime minister publicly accepted in relation to the citizens, the Socialist Party is also facing dissatisfaction and internal debates, which Rama himself described as an “elbow fight” that, according to him, is damaging the party and the government.
