Kanye West concert, Zhupa: Financing with emergency fund violates the Constitution

Democratic MP Ina Zhupa has opposed the government's decision to use 4.2 million euros from the emergency reserve fund for the Kanye West concert.

Zhupa stated that the arrival of international artists in Albania is not a problem, but according to her, a private activity must be financed by the organizers through tickets, sponsors and private investments.

According to the Democratic MP, the government and state institutions were involved in promoting the concert, while after low interest from the public, public funds were intervened.

Zhupa described the normative act for financing the concert as a violation of the purpose of the reserve fund and Article 101 of the Constitution, arguing that normative acts should only be used in urgent cases.

She raised concerns that Albania continues to have shortages in civil protection, health services and other public sectors, where these funds, according to her, would be most needed.
Zhupa called on the Assembly not to approve the normative act, describing it as a dangerous precedent for the use of taxpayers' money.

"The Kanye West concert was presented to us as a private investment. No one was against organizing concerts or the arrival of international artists in Albania. If an activity is private, it must be financed by the organizers, through ticket sales, sponsors and their investments. This is the logic of the market economy.

For weeks, we have seen the entire state apparatus engaged in its promotion. The government, the majority MPs, and state institutions turned into a marketing machine for selling tickets, but Albanians, with many worries and in protest, massively boycotted it.

And here begins the real scandal that is the Normative Act.

The government has decided to use 4.2 million euros from the emergency reserve fund, by normative act, precisely for this concert. A fund that totals about 10 million euros, almost half of it, to finance a concert that was presented as a private activity.

This is not just a wrong political choice and a waste of budget money. But it contradicts the purpose of Article 101 of the Constitution, which allows the issuance of normative acts only in cases of need and urgency. The emergencies for which this fund exists are earthquakes, floods, fires and disasters that endanger the lives, property and safety of citizens, not the financing of a concert.

What is the urgency in this case? The lack of ticket sales? The financial difficulties of the organizers? None of these constitute a constitutional emergency and do not justify the use of the state reserve fund.

Albania continues to lack sufficient civil protection capacities. This weekend alone, hundreds of hectares of olive groves, orchards and forests were burned, while firefighters fought the flames with insufficient means. We still do not have the capacities we need for aerial intervention. During the tragic earthquake of 2019, Albania also relied on search and rescue teams and dogs from Kosovo and partner countries. The emergency fund exists precisely for such situations.

Meanwhile, hospitals face shortages of vital equipment and services, education on its worst day, agriculture, pensions, everywhere could be more useful than for a private concert.

The Normative Act cannot be used as a mechanism to bypass parliamentary control whenever the government wants to finance an unjustified expense. If this precedent is accepted, tomorrow any private interest can be declared an “emergency” and paid for by citizens’ taxes.

For this reason, the Assembly has a constitutional obligation not to approve this Normative Act. Deputies should not become notaries of a decision that violates Article 101 of the Constitution and violates the very meaning of the emergency fund.

"The state cannot treat a private concert as an emergency, because that's what Edi Rama wants. This is a test for respecting the Constitution and for responsibility towards Albanians' money," she said.