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"Responsibility is personal", SP 'saves' two SP deputies 'supported' by Aqif Rakipi

Politiko 2022-04-19 17:40:03

"Responsibility is personal", SP 'saves' two SP deputies

The Socialist parliamentary group did not take any decision regarding at least two seats won by Aqif Rakipi's direct influence in the campaign, who is described by the US as a "notorious" former MP with a detrimental and destabilizing influence on the political process in Albania.

His son, Ornaldo Rakipi , and a close relative, Saimir Hasalla, were elected deputies to the SP lists in the last elections with Rakipi support.

However, none of them will be excluded as the responsibility is personal said Taulant Balla.

"If there is one thing that sets us apart as a political family, it is that we have never used double standards. "Our position is always the same and we respect the decisions of the United States, our strategic ally, " said Balla, head of the SP parliamentary group.

Recall that the son of Aqif Rakipi, Ornaldo Rakipi managed to break the quotient and was ranked on the winning list in the last parliamentary elections, although he had no previous political or public experience. Also, the son-in-law of Rakip's brother, Sajmir Hasalla won a mandate in Elbasan.

Representatives of the opposition considered this silence of Rama as a shield for "non-women".

"For whom did Aqif Rakipi buy votes and organized crime on April 25? "Edi Rama knows the answer to this question, therefore he is defending his partners in this electoral crime, without whom he would not be in power," wrote Lulzim Basha, former leader of the Democratic Party on Facebook.

Even the head of the parliamentary group of the Democratic Party, Enkelejd Alibeaj said that the lack of a decision by the SP "is proof of the power that the non-women club has in Albanian politics."

"DP has long ago denounced the involvement of Aqif Rakipi in the vote buying process. This fact confirmed by the US State Department failed to convince Edi Rama and his deputies that the votes bought on behalf of his son should be an alarm for the normal course of parliamentarism ..., " said Alibeaj.

Rakipi lost his mandate as an MP in 2018, as a result of the decriminalization law, as he had not declared a proceeding in Italy for the criminal offense of taking stolen goods. But in the last parliamentary elections held on April 25, 2021, his son, Ornaldo Rakipi, with no experience in politics, was elected with a surprise number of votes as a SP deputy in Tirana.

In the announcement distributed by the United States Embassy in Tirana, it is emphasized that Rakipi has a harmful and destabilizing influence on the political processes in Albania and it is added that the former MP has exercised illegal influence to appoint public officials in Elbasan and Tirana.

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