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The dismissal of Ahmetaj, VOA: It had been rumored for a long time, the most crooked name for the incinerator issue

Politiko 2022-07-26 06:41:42

The dismissal of Ahmetaj, VOA: It had been rumored for a long time, the most

In Albania, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced today several changes in his cabinet, dismissing Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, who was also Minister of State for Reconstruction. The post of Deputy Prime Minister was entrusted to the Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, Belinda Balluku. In the new cabinet, there will no longer be a Minister of State for Reconstruction. The Prime Minister announced that Majlinda Dhuka will be the Minister of State next to the Prime Minister, who will also be appointed as the chief negotiator in the negotiation process with the European Union, replacing Ambassador Zef Mazi in this position.

In a surprising way, Prime Minister Edi Rama announced in the early hours of the day that he had changed the number two of his government cabinet, Deputy Prime Minister Arben Ahmetaj, one of the longest-serving figures as part of the socialist governments since 2013. He has covered functions different from the Minister of Economy, to that of Finance, with an interruption in 2019, when he returned to parliamentary life, to be included again in the government cabinet after the November earthquake of the same year.

A possible departure of him had long been rumored in the corridors of the majority. Mr. Ahmetaj's name is also one of the most popular by the opposition for his involvement in the incinerators issue. When this issue was a hot topic of debate, after the parliament had been requested to authorize the arrest of the socialist deputy Alqi Blako, the prime minister, 4 months ago, said that "there is no reason for changes in the cabinet".

Today he motivated his move with the fact that Reconstruction is no longer the government's priority, given that it is in its final phase. "Energy as the most colossal challenge of this period and infrastructure as an uninterrupted national challenge, have today also become intensive relations with governments and international institutions. Time for the role of the deputy prime minister to focus on these areas", explained the prime minister announcing the appointment of the minister of energy and infrastructure, Belinda Balluku, to this post.

But according to the Democratic Party, the departure of Mr. Ahmetaj is precisely related to the issue of incinerators. "Edi Rama, in order to wash his hands of his ugly crime, the affair among the biggest in the history of the country, the affair of the firecrackers, has dismissed Arben Ahmetaj", declared former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who has regained control of the Democratic Party.

The most unexpected was the departure of Albania's chief negotiator with the EU, Zef Mazi, right now when the country has just started the negotiation process. On the day when the country opens the way for these talks, a week ago, Mr. Mazi, together with Foreign Minister Olta Xhaçka, led the first session of the analytical review of the legislation.

"Majlinda Dhuka, a high technical profile instead of the high diplomatic profile of Ambassador Mazi, becomes Chief Negotiator and Minister of State under the Prime Minister", announced Mr. Rama. Ambassador Mazi has not yet made any comment on today's decision of the Prime Minister. His successor, Ms. Dhuka, currently works as a director in the Department of Development and Good Governance at the Prime Minister's Office. With a legal profession, she does not have any previous direct experience in matters related to the European integration process. No biography of Mrs. Dhuka has been distributed by the government. VOA