Berisha responds to Rama: Why didn't Montenegro, which tripled pensions, fall into the abyss?

The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, declared that May 11 is the day of a decisive return for Albanians, the day of the victory of the opposition and the coalition for Greater Albania.

Berisha responded to Rama by saying that today every pensioner should receive at least 390 thousand lekë. The Democrat leader emphasized that in 2013 Albanians did not have high salaries, but they did have higher salaries than the other 6 nations in the region. 

Berisha: May 11 is a day for a decisive turning point for Albanians to place their dreams in Albania. It is a day for a decisive turning point for these young people to build their Albanian dream in Albania.

It is a day for the entire nation that millions of Albanians who left Albania during these 10 years return, come to build their dream in Albania and set Albania on the path to its greatness.

My friends, May 11 is a victory not only for the opposition, for the coalition for a Greater Albania, but it is a victory for every Albanian who says dignity, dignity.

It is a victory for every Albanian who will not cry cold tears of misery every day from the great poverty into which the theft of government officials has plunged them.

It is a victory for every democrat, socialist, and non-partisan who believes that one can live with dignity in this country. That the wealth of this country can enrich the citizens of Puka and all of Albania.

My friends, these 12 years were years of a very serious, very undeserved setback.

In 2013, Albanians from Pukija did not have high salaries, but they had higher salaries than the other 6 nations in the region. They even had higher salaries than Romanians and Bulgarians.

In these 10 years, they surpassed us 3 times in pensions and surpassed us about twice in salaries.

But not only that, this is just one dark side of this government's coin.

The other side of this coin is just as dark, that these men and women, with these pensions and salaries, the lowest in the region, have to go to stores to buy goods at the most expensive prices.

During these 10 years, the price of food doubled.

And today, to buy what they bought in 2013, a pensioner with a pension of 143 thousand lek would have to have a pension of 390 thousand lek.

So there should have been a minimum pension 2 and a half times higher.

Likewise, low wages.

Likewise, the middle-income earner.

What happened? How did we fall this way? Why did others surpass us in pensions three times? Why does a Montenegrin who received a pension of 138 thousand lek in 2013, lower than an Albanian, receive a pension of 450 thousand lek today?

Why does a Macedonian who received a pension of 130 thousand lek in 2013 receive a pension of 330 thousand lek today?

Why does a Serb, who received a pension of less than 140 thousand lek in 2013, receive a pension of 405 thousand lek today?

Why these? How is that possible?

There is only one reason. The governments of these countries first return the money to those who take it, to their citizens. They return it to them in the form of salaries, pensions, economic assistance, and services.

I invite every socialist, every non-partisan to listen to us.

Let's go back to Albania for a moment. What happened in January of this year when the 8 billion euro budget came to parliament? Edi Rama, immersed with his ministers in unimaginable theft and corruption, had the heartlessness to allocate 8 billion euros to 760 thousand gray-haired, elderly women and men, a total of 16 million.

And when we demanded that the living wage law be voted on, they said it would lead us into an abyss. What abyss did you, heartless one, get into?

Why didn't Montenegro fall into the abyss when it tripled pensions? Why didn't Macedonia, Kosovo or Serbia fall into the abyss? Why didn't we fall into the abyss when we increased pensions from 36 thousand lek to 82 thousand lek? Why didn't we fall into the abyss when we increased average pensions by 60 percent and maximum pensions by 40 percent?

Why didn't we fall into the abyss when we doubled the salaries of teachers, doctors, and nurses?