In a press conference, Berisha stated, “It is sad that the twofold increase of the country’s total production in the span of 11 years, the increase of budget revenues over 11 years, has not been reflected in the economy and household budgets of about half of the Albanians.”

On the contrary, he added, “800,000 Albanian pensioners have not enjoyed any increase in their pensions. What was given to pensioners as indexing, in reality, has indexed less than 50 percent of what it should have. As a result, today, with their current pension, each pensioner, after this indexing, buys 30-40 percent less staples than they did in 2013 or 2014.”

Furthermore, Berisha continued, this economic growth and the doubling of the budget have never been properly reflected in the minimum and average wages.

“Minimum and average wages remain the lowest in the region, while in 2013, these were the highest wages in the region. The ones that have increased significantly and are now the highest in the region are the highest wages. So, economic growth has not been evenly reflected. Economic growth has not been reflected in the lives of 66,000 families on economic assistance. Economic growth remains completely a stranger to 40 percent of the rural population, which receives a subsidy from the largest budget in history, totalling 8.2 billion euros, only 40 million euros,” said Berisha.

The leader of the Democratic Party emphasized, “Economic growth has not been reflected in the state’s obligations to its citizens, former politically persecuted, and former landowners whose property was confiscated by the communist regime.”

Berisha also outlined the party’s program for business, stating that once the Democratic Party comes to power, it will reduce taxes by half, open up the economy, and guarantee fair competition.

The Democratic Party will guarantee the strict adherence to competition laws and fair competition for Albanian businesses. It commits to opening the economy based on strong rules and laws applied to international business. It therefore promises to guarantee economic freedom; our vision is fair competition, the rule of law. Our vision is low taxes,” said Berisha.

There will be dynamics, both inside and outside parliament. Our goal is to pass the amendment that establishes the subsistence level of 200 euros for every Albanian who earns less than this amount, or who earns nothing at all. This is the first step of vital importance to end the persistent misery and poverty across the country. The truth is that poverty is more prevalent among Albanian pensioners,” said Berisha.

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