Prime Minister Edi Rama: Good afternoon! Thank you! We are here today to unveil the findings of the National Consultation process on a number of policies, an incredible process in terms of the work volume and intense communication with the citizens.

The process was of course marred by an undesired interference that has actually affected the whole world and is of course related to perhaps much more important things the citizens for the time being  in terms of their household economy and their country’s economic development. However, what matters most is that during and after the impact of the Ukrainian war, which has certainly and naturally shifted our focus and attention, we have actually recorded a high public participation and we have concluded the National Consultation process that saw participation of over half a million people.

I believe we completed the National Consultation process positively with its most positive and significant result being the citizens’ participation, but of course there is still a lot to improve on.

Given that it was a first-time survey with so many unknowns and dilemmas for us too, what matters most is that we reward the trust of all the citizens who joined the process, regardless of their opinion, and give them back what they deserve, namely our commitment and dedication so that their voice is heard with respect and their opinions be transformed into concrete implementation plans to the direction they have guided us through their participation.

* * *

 –  With reference to the second and third question that require changes to the Criminal Code but also other Constitutional changes, how do you plan to deliver on them and when do you plan to begin work on these changes?

PM Edi Rama: None of the questions call for Constitutional changes. I feel incredibly relieved and clear about the decision to be made. The voice of the citizens is reverberant regarding all the aspects we wish to take forward through the decisions we will make and we will do exactly what the citizens want us to do.

– As for the sixth question about cultivation of industrial cannabis, the findings of the survey suggest that 61% of the respondents back legalization and cultivation of medical cannabis, 29% of them rejected it and 10% of the respondents say that they “don’t know”. How the government plans to proceed regarding this issue taking also notice of Albania’s past with cannabis cultivation?

PM Edi Rama: We will act exactly the way the citizens want us to proceed and we will absolutely legalize cannabis for  medical use only and we will open a fresh front of job creation and economic growth, in addition to growth in technological aspects. There is no dilemma about it. We will definitely deliver on what citizens have asked us to do.

 -Is there a calculated cost of this whole process and do you think it is really worth spending so much, if there is a lot of money, or is it worth spending an amount of money for this process?

I see that the last question about the Open Balkan initiative enjoys less support than the other questions that have received positive feedback, whereas 59 percent of the respondents think the Open Balkan initiative is beneficial for Albanian and for regional peace. Are you somehow discouraged from the support of only 500,000 people, who have participated in the National Consultation process and are you discouraged by the fact that Serbia, unlike Albania, is not pursuing a very European approach to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and Serbia has yet to take a clear position?

PM Edi Rama: First of all, 59% suggest a strong support. Second, one should not forget that the process was also influenced by the war and Russia’s aggression on Ukraine and it has definitely had its psychological impact on the respondents.

On the other hand, Albania is not involved in the Open Balkan initiative for the sake of Serbia, but for its own good. The Open Balkan initiative doesn’t protect Serbia’s interest, but our own interests and of course Serbia defends its own interests as everybody else does.

The Open Balkans is an initiative of converging and not divergent interests, and every convergence we deliver on the good neighbourly relations serves peace, serves security, and serves economic and social development.

The Open Balkan initiative is to the very best and most important interest of Albania and Albanians, including Kosovo.

As to the cost of the process, the cost is a minimum one relative to the benefits from the process.

This is a process – I would like you to take note of my words – which will become a tradition and it will become a healing process for the political relations in Albania and for the relations between the citizens and the politics.

 – A day ago you stated that the Socialist Party has the required number of votes to elect the country’s next President alone and that the ruling majority doesn’t depend on other political parties. Does this mean that the dialogue with the opposition to elect a consensual President is ruled out?

PM Edi Rama: I stated clearly yesterday that we are making efforts to communicate with all the possible pieces or factions we can communicate with, since we are not going to communicate with every faction in that Parliament. We will communicate with any factions that represent the living people.

 – Can 500,000 citizens alone decide about the majority of Albanians, taking also notice of the fact that none of the respondents would assume responsibility and having no guarantee of what knowledge they have of the law? I am making this question since a considerable majority of the respondents supported the idea that the government should further stiffen penalties and the Criminal Code.

Since we are talking about electing the next President, in a bid to avoid political conflict, don’t you think that the next questionnaire should include the question whether the country’s President should be elected by the people?

PM Edi Rama: I don’t really understand why you consider citizens unaware of their responses as they have sought tougher penalties. I do not know how you find any correlation with this issue. However, this is not a big deal to me, because for me it matters what the citizens say and, frankly saying it exceeded my expectations, since participation of 300,000 respondents was enough to achieve the participation target, but participation of over 500,000 citizens exceeded any expectations, and undoubtedly participation of over 500,000 citizens have an extraordinary influence regarding the nature of this consultation process, which is not a referendum.

I already said, we can’t deliver on everything immediately, but everything will be done the way the citizens want us to do.

I personally oppose the idea for the President of the country to be elected by the people in a republic like ours, because it is not in the nature of our Republic. If the President was to be elected by the people, we would have to give the President more power.

 – I would like to ask you about the question concerning the judges and prosecutors who are waiting vetting. You said that you will amend legislation, namely you would review the justice system reform. Would this involve constitutional changes?

PM Edi Rama: How many times should I say “No”? I already provided an answer earlier, saying that none of these would require constitutional changes.

 –  The Special Prosecution office has most recently seized the Fier incinerator and has demanded the arrest and imprisonment of a Socialist MP, who used to previously serve as a senior official of the Ministry of Environment. Do you think it’s time to revisit these concession contracts or suspend the contracts on the incinerators?

PM Edi Rama: It’s a saying I recall very often, and my grandmother taught me that. I know it both in Latin and Italian, but I would say it in Albanian: “To err is human, but to persist in error is diabolical.” The state, the government can operate neither like a press or news outlet nor can it act on the basis of individual reaction, seemingly quite natural ones. If it was for me in my capacity as an individual – for everyone to know – as an individual free of the burden of this office, I think just like you, but this cannot be done legally, because we are dealing with an ongoing process and a final court ruling has yet to be made.

Politics is primarily a common solution of common issues in the interest of each and every common country. Involvement in the National Consultation means involvement in politics to deal with politics without denying neither your affiliation to one or another political camp nor your beliefs and nothing else. Consultation affects everyone allowing everyone to express their opinion on issues that are directly related to them.

Thank you very much everyone!

/u.sh/

The questionnaire already delivered to the citizens’ homes and digitally accessible is drawing attention of the citizens across the country and a steadily growing number of them are expressing their opinion on the current challenges regarding the country’s cross-sectoral development, economy, justice system, social protection and democratic coexistence.

The government head urged citizens to fill in the national consultation questionnaire, which is set to become a traditional way of communication with the citizens on the government’s important decisions starting this year. “We will turn the National Consultation into a strong bridge of communication with everyone, regardless of their political affiliation, their profession or their status in life,” PM Rama stated, adding: “We we govern for everyone and we want people to see Albania’s government as their government, and not government of one party against another party or of a party that turns its back to the other party. “

* * *

Good afternoon everyone!

This meeting wasn’t actually planned for such a large number of people to attend and I would like to thank all the participants. This is an event as part of the series of meetings we have launched under the National Consultation initiative, but of course we should also take into account the fact that an election campaign is also underway here in Diber as mayoral by-elections are scheduled to be held in Diber and five other municipalities across the country on March 6, and another meeting is set to take place later. However, I would focus on the reason why we have come together here, namely the National Consultation, acknowledging first that we are really pleased to see a considerable reaction from the citizens. I think that the National Consultation questionnaire has been already delivered to your home addresses. It is a questionnaire one can also fill in via the online platform by using a smartphone or a computer even though the questionnaire has been also sent home and it can be physically completed and we thought it is mostly available to older seniors who are not frequent users of the technology, so to say.

The National Consultation is the latest endeavour as part of our ongoing efforts aimed at best interacting with the citizens and it represents a step further towards the citizens’ inclusion in the government’s major decision. I have noticed that many comment this initiative of ours as being a delayed one, saying it should have been launched since when we took office for first time in 2013, but I believe that the fact we launch such an initiative now, precisely at the start of our third term in office, is a very significant fact for a very simple reason and truth that we want to improve steadily and daily and we struggle every day to do more and to do a lot better. Just as it is a meaningful fact showing that we are not absolutely detached from reality and we increasingly feel the need to listen to people, to consult with people, so that we can make people feel more respected, as well as useful in the decision-making process.

The National Council questionnaire contains a set of questions concerning the government dilemmas over some important decisions we have to make this year. They are questions we are asking the citizens so that we can figure out what the majority of people think about these issues. I would like to reiterate the fact that it is about government decisions we want to make together with our citizens as we have our dilemmas over them and we are doing so not because we lack the majority of votes.

Many others claim that the National Consultation is a propaganda initiative, because the government doesn’t care about the citizens’ opinion. What would be the point of launching such an initiative and spending so much time and energy by involving everyone if we were not willing to listen to the opinion of the citizens? What would possibly be the reason for us to engage in a wrongful relationship and become subject to comments of the majority of people if we were to do quite the opposite of what the majority of citizens want? These are all actually understandable suspicions, yet unfounded ones. We want to learn about the citizens’ opinion, we want to listen to their voice, we want them to have their say in the decision-making process and we want our decisions to be broadly based on the spirit and the conviction of the majority of citizens.

Finally, there are people claiming that the issues we have asked the citizens about are actually not important at all as there are so many other important issues. Of course, there could be many more other important issues, but I think that issues like the savings of emigrants are crucial issues. Almost each and every one of us, if not our family members, know friends and relatives who have emigrated and live and work abroad and we know quite well the story of emigration in Albania, we know pretty well the story of the Albanian emigrants, their incredible efforts to earn their living through hard work and by saving to help their families back home. And there are certainly emigrants who have amassed savings over the years and they have yet to formalize their savings they have actually earned through illegal employment and they can’t deposit in bank accounts, neither in the countries they live and work, nor in their homeland, Albania, because legal procedures are such that require everyone to justify their savings through documents and face difficulties to justify the source of their savings. And we are talking about employment sources and not about criminal assets and proceeds of crimes, which are excluded from this decision-making. But on the other hand, previous governments have attempted such decisions earlier and they have failed to make one, and it means making such a decision is really a difficult process. And it is for this reason we have decided to ask the citizens. Should we provide Albanian citizens living and working abroad the opportunity to legalize their savings generated through employment and also provide them the opportunity to deposit their money in banks and then invest in Albania?

This is not an easy decision to be made and we will make one based on what the citizens will say and that’s why I would ask everyone to fill in the questionnaire. It is not difficult at all and filling it in is not a waste of time and, most importantly, this is after all trust, but verify. How serious the government is about this, how much the government will take into account the citizens’ opinion, how much the government will turn these thoughts into important decisions for the economy, for the family, for justice, the foreign policy, it is up to the government to demonstrate it, but each and every one must do his part by filling in the questionnaire.

–I would like to ask a question. If the government decides to stiffen the anti-tax avoidance measures against the big business, in which sector the government plans to spend the revenue from tax collection and what are the guarantees you offer that the revenues will be used effectively? Thank you!

PM Rama: This is one of the decisions we are considering and which we will make once we draw the citizens’ opinion is the decision to further stiffen or not the measures against the fiscal evasion or tax avoidance by the biggest companies, which are both the main beneficiaries, but also the biggest contributors to the state budget. It is not an easy decision to make due to the fact that it requires not only a strong political will that we do not lack, but it also requires a completely different approach to crack down on evasion or tax evasion of the biggest private companies.

Of course, the first question is not about what the revenue from the evasion collections will be used for, as it will normally be transferred to the state budget and will be used for all the purposes the state budget operates on. The primary question one should make is how much we will be able to enhance the contribution of the biggest companies to the country’s economy by also raising their awareness of the penalties they would face if they resort to tax avoidance practices. This would really be a serious action. The second part of the question is normally about the investment in which the revenues will be used in all the directions that certainly require the state budget involvement.

–      My question is about informal employment relations. More specifically, my question is why should and why is the state intervening for employees fired by employers, who pay them fictitious salaries while it is the competent courts which should force the employer to compensate for the damage he causes to his employees?

PM Rama: First of all, this is not about those who have been dismissed from employment. This is primarily about those who do not dare to speak up, namely about the employees and those who receive a certainly declared salary, but their employer actually pays them less. We have come across certain cases when the employees have been forced to pay back a certain amount of their monthly salary and they refuse to speak up about this. Why don’t they speak up? This is because they are afraid. They are afraid that if they raise their voice and report such cases, they would earn nothing and they will be fired,

What we have included in the questionnaire is the government commitment to side with these employees, not just to support them, as the government and the state actually side with the employees and has always done, but a new measure which means that in case an employee does his duty, reports the employer and the employer is punished fit by law for violation of the employment contract, a little later, he fires that employee and the question is, should the state tell this employee or all employees that you do not accept in any way the abuse of your salary because it is also an abuse of your pension, it is also an abuse of your social security but raise your voice and in case it happens that you because you raise your voice you will be affected in the workplace, you will have not only legal but also financial support from the state, which we do not have detailed in the questionnaire because then this is all to detail how the financial support will be given for how long, one year, two years or three years and how the financial support will be related to the guarantee of another job, minimally equal with the job that the employee had before, which means that this would encourage we think employees and would put the employer in a more difficult situation to commit abuses. Why do we ask the citizens about this? Because normally for this, and for the next question about mothers of 3 or more children, and for any other question yet, the answer sometimes seems very straightforward, namely “yes, very well, do it.” But it shouldn’t be this way. The surveys we have conducted, and the citizens’ comments show that no differences should be made, because after all these employees or these mothers will be paid with the taxpayers’ money and this part of the public opinion tends to oppose such differentiation among people, saying there is no reason for such a decision. Or let the current law be enforced properly. However, we are receiving very few, if not at all, reports from the employees.  There was a reported case indeed, with a significant number of women workers at a clothing and footwear factory in Korça protesting for the employment contract and it worked. It worked because the Finance Minister immediately travelled to Korça, sat with both sides, made all the verifications and those women have already won their rights. However, not everyone follows the suit. It is a very rare case indeed. It would be a miracle if everyone would do it. However, we are confident it can work through such initiatives and that’s why we have made such a question.

– Mr. Prime Minister, I would like to ask a question about the justice system. Do you not think that the direct removal of judges and prosecutors from the justice system before undergoing the vetting process would lead to a hasty and arbitrary decision?

PM Edi Rama: The issue is up for discussion, even though none of you here have ever experienced direct problems because of the system, but have certainly come across news stories about flagrant rulings that have shocked the public opinion. I mean rulings issued by judges, who have decided to absolve a serial killer, who was serving life sentence and who is released after having served 25 years. And what has turned out to be with these judges – and I brought a flagrant example as there are many other equally flagrant decisions against the citizens, which go unreported and no media coverage is provided about them. There are cases when properties are robbed right before our eyes. And the judges issuing such rulings are typically ones that have yet to undergo the vetting process and that know quite well they won’t successfully pass it as they are totally corrupt. Of course, the existing law stipulates that an investigation is launched by the High Justice Inspectorate and the High Judiciary Council when a flagrant violation is evidenced and the judge is removed from the justice system if the investigation finds the violations.

Meanwhile, as long as the investigation continues, they remain in office and the question we are asking people is whether they should be suspended automatically and not be removed from the justice system before an investigation is carried out. We are asking whether they should be banned from exercising their duty until the investigation completes and their suspension be again decided by the justice bodies tasked with conducting the probe. This is the question and this is an issue that was up for discussion when the justice reform was about to be launched. Some backed this idea, but many others rejected it and it was decided that they won’t be suspended until the investigation is complete.

This is one of the decisions about which we want the citizens’ support as evidence showing that the decision is a result of the urgent need of the public for justice. One should  not forget that these are also decisions we discuss with the international community and our partners too and they even sometimes speak up without taking into consideration the fact that it is us who live here. These international representatives leave once their tenure at the post ends and others are appointed to replace them, while it is us who experience direct consequences of the things that take place here or directly benefit from those that stem from decisions that may seem difficult or may seem risky, such as the decision of the amnesty for immigrant savings or such as the decision to legalize medical cannabis.

This has been a topic up for discussion since the very beginning. This was to be also part of the public opinion discussion, but I have always argued that time has yet to come. However, probably time has now come for us to seriously consider making such a decision, because other countries are legalizing medical cannabis too, which means that cannabis won’t be up for use for everyone, but it would be used as raw material for the pharmaceutical industry, as experience in other countries shows it can generate significant revenues for the country’s mainstream economy. It creates employment, a new product for export and it also generates significant revenues. But of course given the history, taking into account everything else that you and I know, we need to think twice before making that decision and that’s why we have shared this with all the citizens. At the same time, you should know that when it comes to the partners they are again skeptical about it, not that they reason wrongfully, because the opposite reasoning is not wrong at all, but they do not live here.  They live here, yet they are dependent neither with our state budget, nor with employment in our country, or the pension payment they would receive upon retirement.  It is pretty easy for them. Instead of taking the trouble to think about it, they cut it short and tell us to stop such a plan. This is more or less the answer.

-Taking notice of the fact that some businesses are facing penalties, don’t you think that the relevant bodies should intensify measures to cut fiscal evasion?

PM Edi Rama: This is precisely the reason why we have embarked on this nationwide consultation process, although it may seemingly sound as if nobody opposes legislation, there are indeed many individuals who do not agree as they think that our corpus of laws is sufficient and all it takes is just right law enforcement and there is no need for additional punishing measures as they may have negative side effects.

That’s why the National Consultation process is the right way to make decisions based on discussions and opinions from the citizens regardless of political affiliations. It is not a political process, because, as you have already noticed, the envelope containing the questionnaire is anonymous. It doesn’t contain the name of the receiver and nobody will ever understand who has filled it in, whether he or she is a Socialist or a Democratic Party supporter, a young man or girl or older people. There is nothing like this. It is a questionnaire for everyone to express their own opinion and nobody will ever find out whether you have joined in and have expressed your opinion. However, most importantly we need your opinions. It is a questionnaire; it is a process, a bridge of communication between the government and Albanians as citizens of this country and not as Socialists or Democrats. It is a bridge to bring people together and not to divide them as it has been the case all over these years.

You are witnessing the recent events. Just imagine, the Democratic Party was divided and many other cases of divisions have been recorded in this country over the years, including the huge division between the Socialist and Democratic Party supporters, which is an abnormal division in political terms, although such divisions are to be found in all democratic countries, but the one here in our country is an abnormal alienation triggering hatred and divisions provoked by a handful of e people for their personal vested interests and goals.

The truth is that the most recent division features two troubled individuals, with the first one having causing too much trouble for this country and the Albanian citizens over the past 30 years and the latter being the most incompetent politician and the accidental opposition leader.

This is the politics of division in Albania.

The National Consultation is a unification policy, not for everyone to join just a single political party, nor to tell all the DP supporters to vote for the Socialist Party from now on. No, this is not the case at all. This is to invite everyone to work together for Albania, no matter who you vote for. This is to invite everyone to work together on things that make sense.

The politics of division has nothing to do with the Dibra region and the problems concerning the Albanian citizens and families. Infrastructure projects, development of agriculture are the right things to be done for Diber and local residents.

That’s why Diber citizens should vote for the Socialist candidate on March 6 mars, because Diber citizens always support hard working people.

I am concluding the same way I started my remarks by inviting everyone to fill in the National Consultation questionnaire. Trust, but verify. I would also invite those who do not trust us at all. It costs them nothing to fill in the questionnaire. Instead of writing comments on Facebook, let them fill in the questionnaire and answer the 12 questions. We plan to compile such a questionnaire next year too. We are committed to turning the National Consultation into a strong communication bridge with everyone, because we are governing for everyone and we want everyone to increasingly see the government of Albania as their own government and not as the government of a part of the country only.

This is all I had to say and since the Arber Road project is actually the most sensitive issue concerning local residents here in Diber, I would like to tell everyone: Yes, it is true it took too long, but the new road is now a reality. I would beg not to hold me accountable also for those who have kept lying to you for decades long. If delays have been caused during our term in office, such delays have actually happened for objective reasons that are out of our hands. It is not in our hands that the geological composition of Murriz tunnel is different from what anticipated and such delays happen in major projects all over the world. But why am I commenting on this now? I am doing so because with the Arber Road already constructed, we plan to extend it to Peshkopi and we will do so, because nobody else can. I have repeatedly told you and everyone else; we could not be the best and sometimes and sometimes we deserve harshest of criticism, yet there is no one better than us. Therefore, I pledge that the Arber Road will be further extended. This is our objective. We are already working on the project idea and we will work to fully deliver on this project. Thank you!

/u.sh/

Prime Minister Edi Rama today kicked off a cycle of conversations with the citizens on the National Consultation initiative with a meeting in the coastal city of Durres, with the government head noting “this is the first time an Albanian administration takes such a major step forward in reaching out people, by house-to-house sending a set of questions regarding a number of important decisions to be made in the course of this year.”

* * *

First of all, my apology for not making it to this meeting on time, because of the congested road traffic and I generally prefer to respect the rules and share the traffic woes with everyone else. I apologize for being late.

Meanwhile, we have come together here at a time when Durres faces city mayor polls, but we decided to launch the cycle of meetings as part of the National Consultation initiative here in the coastal city.

It is a process you are definitely aware of or at least you have come across it, as it has been already launched for some time now with a questionnaire that has been sent house to house and I am sure you have also received one in your own houses.

The questionnaire is also available digitally on the government online platform to provide the opportunity to all of those living abroad who wish to answer and fill it, as we have sent a questionnaire only to every family, considering that it is much easier for the older adults to fill it physically rather than digitally, while others can do it via the web-based platform. In the meantime, given that such an initiative has been launched for the first time and taking into consideration the outcry provoked over the personal data, we made the questionnaire totally anonymous and this is the reason why we didn’t send one for each family member. So nameless envelopes have been distributed to every address and they are sent back namelessly, at no cost. So the opinions expressed by people are completely unidentifiable by anyone. However, what matters most is that everyone expresses their opinion and they are opinions rendered by the Albanian citizens for whom the National Consultation – I believe – is important and goes beyond their political affiliations, regardless of what party they vote for.

It is about a series of issues regarding government decision-making. This doesn’t mean they are issues we cannot resolve, and so we are trying to use a scheme to say: “Look, people think the way we think.” No, this is not the case. They are not issues –at least most of them – that require an overwhelming majority of votes in parliament and we lack such a majority, but they are issues concerning a number of decisions we bear the responsibility to make, we are given the opportunity to make, but we face some kind of a dilemma about them. Every decision-making comes with a dilemma, many times the decision-making can be very clear, but in certain cases the dilemmas can be very strong.

For example, I would consider an issue that is very important for a thousand reasons as it affects a large number of households and individuals, namely the issue of remittances and non-deposited savings of the Albanian emigrants. All the emigrants have had a difficult start, except a small number of lucky ones, and they have been all involved in unreported or illegal employment. They have all generated savings and have succeeded to send savings back home and they have amassed considerable amounts of cash money that they can’t deposit in banks of the countries they live in.

This is in no way about money generated by a criminal activity, because there is no way to formalize the cash proceeds from illegal activities. We are talking about profits in cash generated from work. Of course, there is a legal problem as it is about illicit employment and, because of all the filtration processes taking place when you transfer money to banks in Albania, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to justify thousands of dollars or euros generated from work.

This is a decision that has to be made and an inner urge to make it, but it is in the meantime a kind of decision that also comes with the inner contradictions and insecurity, as it is a decision that leads to fiscal amnesty laws on the citizens’ undeclared savings and emigrants in particular, but such legislation could also be exploited as a mechanism for money laundering activities.

However, this comes with risks.

On the other hand, there is also an objection or somehow a cold approach from the partner institutions who voice concern exactly about these risks. However, on the other hand, the mechanism of fiscal amnesty has been used by many countries. Neighbouring Italy has been using it regularly and the analysis we have conducted shows that such a mechanism is being used extensively. Therefore, we are thinking about deciding about it together with the Albanian citizens, who should express their opinion.

On the other hand, the digital green Covid certificate, which is another issue we have to make a decision about amid the ongoing pandemic conditions with each and every one of you and me wearing a face mask in this indoor hall and at a time when people are still dying because of the Covid-19 complications. The peak of the pandemic is over, yet the pandemic goes on. However, no risks are ruled out moreover at a time when many people refuse to receive vaccines. The vaccinated people are not immune to infection, just like everyone else, although they are better protected and fatalities among vaccinated people are extremely rare. However, a considerable part of people have yet to receive Covid vaccines.

A decision should be made about this issue too, although it is not the kind of the decisions we were forced to make at the start of the pandemic, when we had no other choice. And we want to ask citizens to express their opinion on this issue and their opinion will help us a lot.

The questionnaire also includes topics of social nature, namely about mothers with three or more kids, an issue about which an internal discussion is underway and a decision should be made during this stage; should we make a differentiation? Should we launch financial initiatives for them as raising three or more children is much more difficult?

It also includes questions about illicit or unreported unemployment, or more precisely about workers’ maltreatment and abuse by employers. This has been a problem since day one and we have raised this issue consistently. We have made a lot of efforts and progress to formalize the labour market; we have done a lot to save many people from illegal employment and this has certainly been part of the employment rate change in Albania from 400,000 plus employees in 2013 to over 600,000 now. I will not provide a precise number so that no controversies are caused with our political adversaries, who claim about a supposed increase in unemployment rate. This has been a part of our effort to save a large number of people from unreported employment and involve them in formalized employment.

There are still ongoing problems with the salaries in particular. We all saw it for ourselves, when personal data on wages were leaked, which was definitely not a good thing, but I have said that there is a positive side to every bad thing and the leak of such personal data will have its positive side and we are already seeing this positive side as the salary declarations show that the average monthly salary is actually 91,000 lek. And the average salary has not been increased, as it has been already there, but it is now formalized. Unreported employment and salary non-declaration rate is still high in Albania and it lowers the country’s ranking, but this is an aspect of relative importance, but the gravest damage it causes is that it lowers the social insurance contributions. In other words, it directly affects the pension payment rate of everyone and of those who are still young and are unable to realize that time flies.

The point is that people still lack courage to report, thinking they would lose their job if they do so. One of the variants we have been thinking about and a disputable decision is to be made whether the government should consider providing financial support for a certain period to all the people who report cases of abuse and who therefore lose their jobs. Why are we asking these questions? We are doing so because some of these decisions may exclude a certain part of the society and that’s why we want to draw the citizens’ opinion. I will not go over all the issues included in the questionnaire, as it includes topics on justice, foreign policy, but since I have taken notice of the citizens’ reactions on my website where data on number of people who have completed the questionnaire has been updated on daily basis, I will simply mention two or three aspects.

Many are wondering “why now”, as if the governing process has a beginning and an end, just like a new house that you start building and complete and that’s all. Governing process is a never ending process, no matter how long a certain administration remains in office and no matter how many other administrations succeed one another and the fact that we take such a step at the beginning of our third term in office, doesn’t mean we are belated, but it clearly shows we are really committed to improving the governing process, communication and relations with the public as much as possible, and create as much space and opportunities for inclusiveness and unification. Political divisions have lead to big and wide rifts in our society over the years and it is really a grave problem that the society is divided almost on everything, but this is actually a very deep division causing even sometimes disputes between neighbours, brothers and families with some supporting the Socialist Party and others the Democratic Party, while facing the same everyday life problems, namely the public services, the lack of investments, environmental pollution. These are all common daily problems we need to tackle.

Some even ask “why no referendums are held on these issues?” These are not issues to be put to public referendums, because they are issues concerning the government decision-making. Referendums can be held on issues like amendments to the Constitutions, but these are issues of government decision-making. Some others say: “why the questionnaire doesn’t include real problems?” And by real problems they mean whether they should pay this or that tax. First of all, this is an exercise we are doing for the very first time and the next year’s exercise will certainly be carried out by drawing lessons from this first time, after having learned from all the links and the citizens’ opinion, but it is for sure that no matter whatever the outcome, the questionnaire can’t include clear decisions about which there is no dilemma. If there is room for a tax to be reduced, the government would immediately do so, since there could be no government in the world to raise taxes on its will. Some others ask: “Why doesn’t the questionnaire include questions like how much should the government increase wages?” This is something we can’t include in the questionnaire, because if you were to ask me how much I would want your wages to increase, I would certainly like them to increase 10 times as much. However, can we approve such a pay hike? We certainly can’t. This is because if the wages were to be increased as high as one would wish and not based on the real opportunities, then it would have been easy for everyone. Why Italy, the world’s fifth economy, doesn’t increase monthly wages to 10,000 euros for everyone? Why doesn’t Germany increase salaries to 30,000 euros for everyone? Are they not willing to do so? They would absolutely wish to do it, but this is impossible. In other words, these issues are definitely the focus of every government. This is not a dilemma for anyone, neither for me, nor for any cabinet member, for anyone else whether salaries should be increased or not, and we have increased and will continue to increase them whenever possible. But to create the opportunity to do so we need to increase revenue and to increase revenue we need to work hard, create jobs through investment projects, collect more revenues in tax collections and not by increasing taxes, but by expanding the tax base, so that we can distribute more. If we lack the first we would be unable to deliver on the latter.

In order for this not to become a monologue, the last thing I would like to say is that I understand everything, but I really can’t grasp how one can say: “I don’t want the government to ask me and this is all a game…” This could be everything, but it is for sure that this is the first time a government in Albania is launching such an initiative and it constitutes a huge step towards the people, a step towards reaching out the people by sending a set of questions to every  family so that everyone can express his or her opinion on a number of important decisions that the government will make this year and such decisions will also be reflected in the next year’s state budget if they come with certain financial effects. So, it is all about a number of government decisions and we are asking for the citizens’ opinion about them. We are doing so not because we lack the required number of votes, but we don’t want to make a choice of our own only, because we have our doubts. It is pretty simple. We have our doubts and therefore we want to draw up the opinion of as many citizens as possible and we want to have the opinion of a majority of people when we make these decisions. Given that this is about decisions affecting all the social categories, and given that everyone can express the opinion totally anonymously, we believe that all the citizens, and not only the Socialist Party supporters, will express their opinions freely.

These are all topics and issues concerning everyone and every citizen in their daily lives and being as such we want them to always be topics up for national consultation and we want to turn such a practice into an annual government practice so that we establish a closer communication with the citizens and we can bring them closer and unite with each other instead of dividing them along the political party lines. This is because it is impossible, practically impossible to do so when it comes to Parliament, all the more so as the situation has become more complex now, as something that nobody would have ever imagined previously has happened and the race has become more fierce, not in terms of arguments, but in terms of violating ethical norms, in the sense of transcending any kind of boundary, and in the sense of abandoning the terrain where people live and where people cope with their daily life problems. And no debates about their everyday woes take place, but instead they trade accusations.

I am very pleased that in spite of what is going on in that Parliamentary Committee, an opportunity has been at least created for those who want to hear and want to see that the truth is something completely different, but I will stop short about this and I look forward to going tomorrow and testify before that Committee. I would urge each and every one of you to watch the session on TV.

Thank you!

* * *

– I am a dentist working two full-time jobs simultaneously. I have actually received the questionnaire, but I have yet to fill it.

PM Rama: You are not to be blamed for this, as you are working two jobs simultaneously and filling the questionnaire is a third job.

–I am also a mother of one child.

PM Rama: There is no urgency and everyone should take their time. It is not something urgent, but we expect the citizens to start submitting the filled questionnaires by March. Indeed, an incredibly high number of citizens have already provided answers to the 12 questions. Do you want to say anything else?

– No, I would not say anything else, I just promise to fill the questionnaire as soon as possible.

PM Rama: No, we are not here to gain your pledges. The number of citizens filling the questionnaire is much higher than we projected, and we will continue to wait for the rest of questionnaires to be submitted within March. So, you can take all the time.

–First of all, I would like to thank you for starting the cycle of meetings here in the city of Durres. Second and most importantly, thank you for including us…

PM Rama: I am a member of parliament representing Durres.

– Certainly. I wanted to thank you for reaching out to the citizens and making us part of the government decision-making process in the best interest of our communities. I have a question to ask. When I filled in the questionnaire, I doubted about question 10. You asked Albanian citizens whether judges and prosecutors who have yet to undergo the vetting process should be automatically removed from the justice system, because the rulings they have made clearly and blatantly violate the law. I doubt this, because the citizens have been very confident in the vetting process and justice reform. How are we supposed to agree on avoiding the vetting process and remove these judiciary members without undergoing a procedure, and without being subject to an investigation? That is my question.

PM Rama: Thank you! This issue actually affects a very sensitive nerve, as it is quite obvious that a growing number of citizens are becoming disappointed at the justice system. They feel upset and I understand it, because maybe when the reform was launched and the vetting process began, extremely high expectations were actually created and an idea that this would happen overnight. But in the meantime, it is about building the backbone of a democratic system and the backbone of a functioning state, respecting human rights and freedoms, in a country that has never had justice. A justice system was actually in place in the Ottoman empire too, though not a democratic justice system, but this was not the case in the remote parts of the empire. While, in our country there has never been a justice system that has a tradition of its own and that tradition works for the system we want to build. There was a justice system under communist regime too, while the countries we envy and the courts we envy in the European Union member states, in the Western Europe of course, because justice systems in other member states are newer, but they also had a part of their tradition of justice, they had courts to give justice, when we had no state at all. So, courts that did justice to individuals vis-à-vis their daily troubles and of course one should know we are not talking about justice systems in a democratic country. This would take its time. It is impossible to deliver on it just because I want it to be done that way. It is impossible to deliver just because we and everyone else want it that way, but it will take time. The vetting process is proving successful and is addressing an issue that has never been addressed before by removing the most corrupt individuals from the country’s justice system. It is far from being perfect, as mistakes can be made in the process. Mistakes are certainly made in the process, but the justice system is being overhauled and the majority of corrupt judges and prosecutors are being removed and a considerable number of them have yet to undergo the vetting process and many of them know quite well they won’t be able to successfully pass vetting. Whoever has committed crimes, although not caught, knows quite well their crimes. Whoever has abused the office of judge and prosecutor to amass wealth, they know quite well what to do and they don’t expect to pass through the vetting process successfully and therefore they are doing utmost to grab whatever they can until they undergo vetting and be excluded from the justice system. And we have witnessed a number of judges who have issued rulings that have shocked the public opinion. We all have witnessed such court rulings that have severely undermined confidence in new justice, precisely because people now no longer expect such problems to happen again, but that is not the case. However, the question we have written on this questionnaire is simple. It is not about removing them from the justice system without undergoing an investigation and the vetting process. The point is to ban them from serving as judges and prosecutors until the investigation completes, so having them suspended by the new justice bodies. I am talking about corrupt judges and prosecutors, who have constantly violated private and state-owned property rights, judges and prosecutors who violate human rights and inflict new wounds and cause old wounds to open. That’s why we have made such a question and the reason why we are asking for the citizens’ opinion is because this way we would strengthen our position. If an overwhelming majority of citizens think this way, it would be easier for us to convince our partners telling them this is not just our opinion. We have made such a decision in collaboration and by heeding the opinion of the citizens of this country, who have the absolute right to have their say on any decisions. And this is not an excuse for such a decision, but it is about involving everyone. The goal is to use politics to unite, because politics was not born for this, as we see it happen every day in Albania. What is it after all? It is the opportunity given to us as human beings to solve things together that we just cannot solve, it is as simple as that. A protest took place in the “5 Maj” neighbourhood, bringing together a considerable number of local residents initially.  However, their number kept decreasing after they were told that it was not about evicting and demolishing their homes and all those possessing property ownership titles will be provided full compensation as owners, while those lacking property documents will be provided rental bonus and new housing or same floor area they lived in once the construction projects complete. Why are we doing all this? We have embarked on such a project not to provide opportunities for private construction companies to build apartment buildings. This is being done because the state will build a new residential complex designed to meet highest living standards and I am sure all the affected residents will regret why they are protesting now once the project is complete and they move into their new homes. Why am I recalling this? However, they gathered, because nobody would heed their plight individually. They formed a group of representatives and a part of them realized what it was all about and signed the due contract. The rest failed to understand and turned their protest into a political one. And I am not speculating whether they were encouraged by this or that. Therefore, the more we unite with each other in our efforts to deliver on a goal, the more opportunities we are provided to achieve that goal. This is the idea.

The National Consultation initiative is not something that came out of the blue, because we have clearly stated that citizens are our only allies since 2017. Whom to ally with? Don’t you see what is happening with the opposition? Have you heard Sali telling DP leader Lulzim Basha what we actually used to tell him or vice versa. In other words, both are telling the truth about each other now and this means we have been telling the truth about the two. It is as simple as that. Why should they be telling the truth about people now given that they have been both lying about each other over the years. Let them go on with their own business. Why should anyone trust them? They would say exactly the same thing against their mayoral candidates if they turn out to be different. So let them resolve their problems on their own, but keep them away from Durres. And I am addressing this message also to the opposition supporters and tell them this is not a vote neither for me, nor for the government, this is a vote for the mayor and the new city council and as such it is a very simple choice to make. The city of Durrës needs a lot of work to be done and work is actually underway on a project to rehabilitate the whole Durres beach to transform the entire area as part of the immense transformation project we plan to deliver on Durres port through state budget funds. Work is also underway to rehabilitate the streets and the city’s residential complexes. We will do a lot of good things in Durres.

–First of all I would like to commend you for this initiative. The first day I came across the questionnaire, what really impressed me was the fact that the first question concerned the family and mothers with several children and I felt really good about it. The question you ask is whether more support should be provided to mothers of three or more children. Could you please clarify whether this is about single mothers or about two-parent families?

PM Rama: Thank you! First of all, I would like to highlight the fact that we have done a lot, but not as much as we would have wished to do, and probably not enough during our terms in office. However, we have done a lot compared to where we started from upon taking office by providing support to children, by providing the baby bonus which we inherited from the previous government, but the cash support amounted to 5000 lek only. Our government increased the baby bonus to 400,000 lek for the first child, 800,000 lek for the second and 1.2 million lek for the third or more children. Mothers receive the baby bonus upon their release from hospital without encountering any bureaucratic procedures. Likewise, we have done as much as we could for the kindergartens and the schools. We have projected a 100% increase of the economic assistance for the single and unemployed mothers under the 2022 state budget. And we are now seeking to move further and we are exploring ways to help mothers with three or more children, regardless whether they are employed or not. We want to make a decision about this plan, but this is not an easy decision to be made. It is a tough decision, as many would rightly say such support should be granted to all mothers. I agree, everyone should enjoy support, but the decision will be based on the opportunities we can afford. Therefore, the idea is to grant support to mothers of three or more children, no matter whether they are single mothers or part of two-parent families.

– Wouldn’t be fairer to focus such government assistance to families, since you already said that you will categorize these families, but let them be the ones to decide if the husband or wife will benefit from this assistance.

PM Edi Rama: As you already realize these are really well thought-out questions. We have asked these questions, because we engage in heated debates when it comes to decisions about such issues and that’s why we decided to better ask for the citizens’ opinion on them. And the longer you serve in office –of course if you really want to improve yourself – the more you realize that there is a lot you should learn about how to move towards making a decision and people are actually the best guarantee when it comes to such decisions. The more you ask when facing a dilemma, the better it is. I will not express my opinion on this issue as it may influence those already filling in the questionnaire, because I am not campaigning to tell people what opinions they should express. Of course, I have already expressed my opinions on every issue, but we will respect every opinion expressed by the citizens.

/u.sh/

“In order for us to move forward faster and higher, we need to leave the divisive party trenches behind and listen more to one another! I invite everyone to render their opinion as part of this country-wide process that is taking place for the very first time and is open to every Albanian citizen regardless of their political affiliation by accessing https://keshillimikombetar.al/,” the Premier said.

The sixth question is about legalizing cultivation, processing and state-controlled export of cannabis for medical purposes.

“There are people who think that Albania should allow state-controlled cultivation, processing and export of cannabis for medical purposes, but not for personal use. Others say cannabis should not be allowed for medical purposes either. What do you think? ” the questionnaire read.

/u.sh/