Balla stated that the Socialist Party’s parliamentary group should serve as the voice for all girls and women in Albania, particularly those from rural communities and marginalized groups.

“In our parliamentary group, we have 34 girls and women. When I was first elected as a deputy, there were only 5 women in the Socialist Party’s parliamentary group. Today, we have reached approximately 41% female representation in Parliament, a significant achievement for our country.”

Balla noted that at the inception of Albanian parliamentary history, there were no women in Parliament, whereas today Albania is ahead of the curve globally for high gender representation in government. “At times, the Albanian government has consisted of 75% girls and women, placing Albania first in the world for gender representation. However, this achievement should be seen not just as a statistic, but as a normalization of political and social life.”

He also highlighted the Socialist Party’s commitment to ensuring gender equality at all levels: “The Socialist Party is the only political force that has enshrined 50/50 gender equality in its statute across all representative bodies. We have implemented this in municipal councils and on parliamentary election lists.”

Referring to the Socialist Party’s candidate list in Tirana for the 2025 elections, he stated: “Of the 12 candidates on the closed list, 8 were women and girls, while only 4 were men. This clearly demonstrates our serious commitment to gender equality.”

Balla called on Socialist Party female deputies to increase their engagement: “The Socialist Party’s parliamentary group must be the voice of every girl and woman in every corner of Albania. When a girl or woman faces a problem, we should be the first to raise our voice. We cannot wait to see it on Facebook.”

“Thankfully, female representatives cover nearly every district except Kukës, but we are determined to address that soon. Our goal is to establish a wide network of collaboration with girls’ and women’s organizations throughout Albania, uniting their voices and advocating for every woman affected by gender-based or sexual violence. It is crucial that we overcome gender stereotypes and, most importantly, combat hate speech.”

We plan to accomplish this by increasing awareness campaigns, delivering public speeches, and making appearances on television.

In his speech, Balla suggested that cooperation on women’s issues should serve as a communication bridge between political parties: “Let the Friedrich Ebert and Konrad Adenauer Stiftung foundations act as linking bridges between the girls and women of Albania’s two largest parliamentary parties. If we men struggle to find common ground, then let the girls and women from both parliamentary groups build these bridges of collaboration. This cooperation should initially focus on protecting the rights of girls and women, promoting gender equality, and the values they uphold, with the potential to expand into other important areas for the country.”
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