By Armand Shkullaku
All those who expected the “big release” of Erion Velija by Edi Rama, in the assembly that determined the new district leaders in the SP, have been disappointed. Since the outbreak of the “5D” scandal, where a colossal theft of public money by the highest leaders of the municipality came to light, the rumors that this time Veliaj would not escape a criminal investigation kept increasing. The questioning of the mayor for about 7 hours about the Tirana incinerator affair and the initiation of a not very clear financial investigation for his family members, reinforced the conviction that the prime minister would leave his hands free to SPAK prosecutors.
But while SPAK was dragging out the cases where the mayor’s role was suspected (even in the indictment for the Tirana incinerator he was left out), those who still continue to have an inexplicable faith in the “new justice” and in an allegedly absurd theory a Rama-Veliaj conflict, they optimistically waited for the June assembly, where, according to them, Rama would dismiss Veliaj as the head of the district and thus give the long-awaited signal to SPAK.
This category of optimists is very laramane. It includes the naive who think that SPAK is an independent institution that can function in an autocratic regime, stubbornly ignoring the facts when the prosecution body has been in sync with the prime minister’s interests. In addition to the naive, this category also includes a considerable number of revivalists who hoped more than they believed that Edi Rama would demolish Veliaj in September. The resentment that the leader unleashed on the mayor, the extraordinary power he put on Belinda Balluk, the stakes in party meetings and the fear of other scandals that are said to implicate Rama’s dolphin again, gave life to the idea of a possible punishment of the boss to the prodigal apprentice.
As a third part of this category, there are also those who are Rama’s opponents who, in an incomprehensible way, live in the illusion of a conflict between him and Veliaj. In public appearances, debates, writings and speeches, exponents of the opposition have transformed this so-called conflict into their reality. And starting from this assumed premise, they joined the “optimistic” idea that Rama would release Veliaj into the hands of SPAK. The act was expected to take place in September.
In a country where all powers are controlled by a single man, it is normal for conspiracy theories to be launched and experienced as “salvation”. When there is no way to break the autocracy, the paths of the absurd begin to open. Rama will eliminate Velia because he sees him as a danger to his power in the future, Dumani does not forget his lobbying against him in the election for the head of SPAK, the Americans did not invite him to his party, Rama did not shake his hand, retouched the photos, did not he laughed, etc., etc. In the absence of other solutions, these whims overlap reality. They even turn into arguments, destroying the cold analysis and political logic of Rama’s power.
Because if you start precisely from the latter, Edi Rama had no motive to release the man, to whom he has given as much power as he wanted to give and whom he has under complete control if he dared to think that he could to straighten the spine. In a government where servility is paid, Veliaj certainly deserves the highest payment. If you don’t fall into the trap of hopeless conspiracies, but rely on arguments and analysis, what happened at the long-awaited assembly was understandable.
First of all, Edi Rama cannot punish a model of the municipality that is exactly his model of government. Veliaj, as an exemplary student, followed exactly the teachings of the great master. If Rama left Velia in the hands of SPAK, what justification would the prosecutors have for not investigating the government’s decision-making tomorrow? So Rama does not protect Veli, but himself and his model.
But there are also pragmatic reasons, which easily knock down the expectations of already disappointed “optimists”. Is Edi Rama interested in entering the elections for the Municipality of Tirana before the general elections? Would his power be further tarnished with a powerful incumbent mayor being impeached? Not to mention the ease of the infrastructure created by the mayor all these years, where 5D money has been poured for electoral purposes to voters, the media and even political opponents. Where the great power that the administration of the capital has is invested in businesses, influential individuals and criminal clans that circulate millions.
So is it logical for the prime minister to enter into such an adventure, since I could not stand the mayor or that tomorrow he may endanger his chair? Rama is interested in and amused by the elaborate theories of a conflict in the SP, and even encourages them, serving as the only hope of opponents to threaten his power. But he has neither the political interests nor the pragmatic account to release his dolphin. Before it can be believed that Altin Dumani is a new flow in SP than SPAK gets permission to investigate Erion Velina. /lapsi.al
