TIRANA, August 8 /ATA/ Chairman of the Democratic Party Sali Berisha stated that Albania’s 2014 territorial reform—which cut local government units to 61 municipalities—dealt a severe blow to decentralization. He argued that this reform and subsequent government policies drove depopulation by causing service, education, health and infrastructure failures in rural areas and cities.
Addressing the socialist majority’s draft proposal to reduce municipalities from 61 to 46, Berisha argued that the move deepens power centralization. He claimed this local government consolidation weakens democracy, fuels depopulation, and allows Prime Minister Edi Rama to concentrate absolute control while pursuing harmful demographic changes.
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