From Troplini to Bajrat and Xhafaj, Balliu reveals the influence of gangs in the May 11 elections!

The Head of Organization at the Democratic Party, Klevis Balliu, has denounced the influence of organized crime in Albanian politics and the electoral process.

During a roundtable organized by the Organizations That Monitored the May 11 Elections, Balliu emphasized that today, instead of facing powerful MPs, we are facing powerful gangs, which have divided the areas of Albania among themselves: from the Troplini in Durrës, the Hajrë and Abdylaj, to the Xhafaj of Vora, to the Bajra of Shkodra and Pëllumb Xhoka, who is in prison not for electoral abuses, but for actions revealed by the SKY ECC platform.

Balliu also denounced MP Ergys Çyrba's connections with criminal structures, emphasizing that the Hajra gang has great influence on political decision-making and the SP candidate lists, causing organized crime to take over politics and hinder democratic rotation in the country.

He also focused on the case of Vora, where DP MP Albana Vokshi, along with her young daughter, were openly threatened in front of the media, while the police station, which is located only 30 steps away, did not intervene.

Balliu: I want to thank you very much for this extremely necessary meeting. The opposition is suffering to enter into a discussion with the opposing party, to highlight the facts and evidence that we have. For the sake of truth, the polls for the institutions that appear to the public as doing their job were conducted by "Noriega" in his own country whenever he wanted. Polls are not reality. The reality that we face today, especially during electoral campaigns, is completely different. In the past, we faced powerful deputies; today we face powerful gangs.

Everyone, from members of the Security Committee to every MP in Parliament, knows very well how the areas in Albania are divided in relation to organized crime: from the Troplini in Durrës, the Hajrës and Abdylaj, to the Xhafaj of Vora, to the Bajra of Shkodra and Pëllumb Xhoka, who is today in prison not as a result of electoral abuses or theft, but as a result of revelations from the SKY ECC platform.

The same applies to Çela in Elbasan. All these names are known to us and the media because they are among the biggest exponents of organized crime in Europe. This has also been confirmed in international reports. Some cases must definitely be made public.

The case of Vora is significant: the DP MP, Albana Vokshi, together with her young daughter, were threatened in front of the media. You should know that from the polling station, the police station is only 30 steps away, and no police officer dared to intervene. I don't blame them. When they have lunch with the police chiefs, no officer has the courage to intervene.

The case of Ergys Çyrba: I have personally denounced him since 2018–2019 for his connections with criminal structures like the Hajrët. Only thanks to SKY ECC did it become public that an MP was hiding a murderer and that this murderer had so much influence that he was moved from number 5 to number 3 on the SP list. This clearly shows that the Hajrët set the list of SP candidates. This is already documented and fact-checked.

These are some of the reasons why Mr. Dumani has left. Dumani had special forces in 12 counties – forces that we, the citizens, pay for with our taxes. These denunciations that I make here today are not my personal duty, nor the Democratic Party's, they are the duty of the justice institutions, which are the most paid institution in Albania and which, unfortunately, apart from attacking the opposition, do nothing concrete.

For electoral crimes, there is only one convicted person in Albania: MEP Fredi Beleri. No one else has been convicted. No one for the Dibra file. But for these documents and facts that we have published, for example, that Belinda Balluku has made 800 legalizations in Fier, or that her associates in Tirana make legalizations a week before the elections, why can't SPAK find them?

If we find the "Bulgarian Train" in Elbasan, if we have documents, videos and evidence of vote buying and stealing in Petrela, why can't SPAK find them? Isn't that exactly what they're paid for?

In this context, we are in a very difficult situation for our country. All the issues raised by the panel today show that we no longer even have the ABCs of elections. We cannot choose.

Mr. Këlliçi spoke about transparency and illegal electoral offices. Who paid for them? They are offices without a logo, undeclared, and were used during the campaign. We caught them red-handed, I in Astir, Belindi in Unit 5. Inside those offices were administration employees. In Belindi's case it was Erion Braçe; in my case it was Blendi Gonxhe, two of the most voted for SP in Tirana.

The OSCE/ODIHR report was also mentioned. From 2009 to 2013 we had the best reports. Today we have only deterioration. In the first sentence after the elections, the OSCE/ODIHR stated that “with these elections Albania does not enter Europe.” Even the European Parliament Commission, through the head of the election observation delegation, gave one of the most serious statements ever given about the elections in Albania:

"Organized crime does not allow political rotation."

I would very much like Mr. Dumani to be here today, so that I could ask him: in which country in the world does the justice system hide 52 arrest warrants for the most dangerous criminals in Europe, for the most dangerous cartel, the Troplins? They waited for the elections to end and Arkend Balla to be elected...