TIRANA, July 30 /ATA/ Prime Minister Edi Rama said the Socialist Party’s fourth term should represent a strategic shift in its relationship with citizens, moving beyond electoral engagement towards a stronger focus on direct human connection.
Speaking at a meeting with Socialist Party political leaders and parliamentary committee chairs, where he unveiled the “Loyal Presence” document, an annex to the previously presented “Besa” document, Rama said the fourth mandate “cannot and should not be merely an extension of the previous three terms, and we must do everything to prevent that.”
Rama said the fourth mandate should mark a major transformation for Albania, including the completion of EU accession talks, economic growth beyond €30 billion in annual GDP, and a strategic shift by the Socialist Party towards citizens.
Rama said the Socialist Party must move beyond seeking voters’ support during elections and build a closer, more continuous relationship with citizens by listening to their needs and aspirations.
Rama said the Socialist Party must move from simply listening to citizens when it needs their support to being consistently present when people need to be heard, responding to their concerns and earning public trust every day, not only during elections.
Rama said that a long stay in power should go hand in hand with renewal, by opening up the Socialist Party and government to new people, ideas and approaches, rather than simply handing power to untested political forces.
Rama said the government’s goals are to secure Albania’s EU membership, make the country’s modernisation irreversible, strengthen judicial independence, ensure institutions work equally for all, build a stronger relationship between citizens and government, and pursue new development opportunities until voters decide otherwise.
Rama said the party’s duty is not to demonstrate that it is not attached to power, but to ensure that it does not become so. He warned that political parties lose vitality when they stop changing and confuse experience with being infallible. He said the Socialist Party could seek further mandates if it listens to those who did not vote for it and works to address unresolved concerns, adding that it can continue making history if the “Loyal Presence” initiative brings a genuine transformation in its relationship with citizens.
Rama said that after years of “immense effort and hard work,” and at a time when Albania’s EU membership has become a reality, a fourth mandate represented not only the natural next step but also the most logical choice.
He stressed that the government and the Socialist Party would remain fully dedicated to serving the country throughout the entire fourth term.
“Until the very last day of this fourth mandate, together with you, we will do everything in our power to ensure that not only I or you, but the entire party, does its very best for Albania and its people,” Rama said.
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