Tom Doshi's Social Democrats complain that "Big Brother" is pressuring them in Fier

When she was called to the OSHEE headquarters in Tirana on March 27, Klortjana Skënderaj did not expect to be told she was being dismissed from her job. After 11 years of working for the group of public companies that manage the electricity distribution and billing system, the order was communicated to her verbally.

"I felt hurt," said Klortjana, recalling that the motivation given was "for violating work ethics."

Her husband, Ylli Skënderaj, and their daughter are candidates for MPs for Tom Doshi's Social Democratic Party in the Fier region for the parliamentary elections on May 11. Ylli claims that his wife's dismissal from work was a form of pressure for him to drop out of the race.

“This is revenge, pressure for me to give up my candidacy,” he said, after filing a report for electoral crimes with SPAK, which has been delegated jurisdiction to the Fier Prosecutor’s Office. Asked by BIRN through a spokesperson, OSHEE denied that it had fired Skënderaj.

However, this is not the only case where Social Democratic Party candidates in the Fier region, who are administration employees, are pressured to withdraw from the race for the May 11 parliamentary elections.

Also, these accusations appear to be part of a larger clash at the local level between the two allied parties, which has taken root in the municipal council, where PSD councilors have boycotted for several months and abstained from the vote on the 2025 budget.

However, Antoneta Çuni, president of the Fier Municipal Council, denied the collision.

“There is no clash, it is not true,” she said. “PSD members have never voted against it,” Çuni added.

PSD candidates complain about pressures

According to Article 325 of the Criminal Code, obstructing, by means of threats, violence or any other means, electoral entities or candidates from carrying out their activities in accordance with the law during the election campaign is punishable by imprisonment from three months to three years.

In addition to Skenderaj, two other PSD candidates in the May 11 elections complained that they faced demands to resign from their jobs immediately after announcing their candidacy.

Limonera Bozha, a specialist at Albpetrol, and Tetem Hasimaj, a nurse at Ballsh Hospital, said they were asked to resign from their jobs, even though the campaign has not yet officially begun. Hasimaj was even informed that he was being suspended from his job on the grounds that his candidacy violated the Electoral Code.

"The suspension from duty of the employee Mr. Tetem Hasimaj, with the profession 'Health Sciences Technician - Assistant Epidemiologist', as a result of his registration on the electoral lists of candidacy for the 2025 general elections," states the decision of the Local Health Care Unit, Ballsh.

Vendimi arsyetohet, në mënyrë të çuditshme, si masë për të ndaluar përdorimin e burimeve publike në fushatë zgjedhore.

Ndërkohë, ndaj Bozhës “Albpetrol” ka ngritur komision disiplinor. Ylli Skënderaj mbetet gjithashtu i bindur se familja e tij po targetohej për shkak të kandidimit në zgjedhje.

Anëtarët e PSD-së thonë se kanë kohë që përballen me presione të ngjashme në nivel vendor. Më herët, disa anëtarë të Këshillit Bashkiak të kësaj force u detyruan të jepnin dorëheqjen nga mandati, me justifikimin se ai binte ndesh me postin e nëpunësit publik që mbanin.

Madje, Erald Majushi, i cili mban një post nëpunësi në Këshillin e Qarkut, e dokumentoi presionin për vendin e punës edhe në letrën e dorëheqjes nga Këshilli.

“Për të mos cënuar vijimin e marrëdhënies së punësimit tim, si i vetmi burim jetese për mua, jam sot i detyruar/i kushtëzuar që t’iu paraqes zyrtarisht dorëheqjen time nga mandati i anëtarit të Këshillit Bashkiak Fier, nëpërmjet aktit prezent”, shkroi ai në qershor 2024.

Përplasje PS-PSD në Këshillin Bashkiak

Prej zgjedhjeve të vitit 2021, mes socialistëve dhe PSD-së së Tom Doshit, një biznesmen i pasur i shpallur “non grata” nga SHBA për përfshirje në korrupsion, ekziston një koalicion i heshtur. Doshi mori kontrollin e PSD-së pasi u shtrëngua të largohej nga Partia Socialiste, por duket se lidhjet mbeten të forta.

Për 4 vjet me radhë, 3 deputetë të PSD-së në parlament votuan në të njëjtën linjë me Partinë Socialiste, ndërsa PSD ishte një prej faktorëve kyç të fitores së socialistëve në zgjedhjet vendore të vitit 2023 në bashkinë e Shkodrës.

Por uniteti midis dy partive në parlament nuk është reflektuar aq shumë në Fier – një nga qarqet me numrin më të madh të deputetëve, ku socialistët kanë dominuar me rreth 60% të votave. Këtu, prej mbi një viti ka një konflikt të hapur mes këshilltarëve të bashkisë nga PSD dhe atyre socialistë.

Në mbledhjen e Këshillit Bashkiak në fillim të shtatorit 2024, kartonave të opozitës kundër vendimeve të shumicës socialiste iu bashkuan edhe pesë të tjerë nga grupi i PSD-së. Ndërkohë, përpara mbledhjes së muajit shtator, këshilltarët e PSD-së kishin bojkotuar mbledhjet për pesë muaj në shenjë proteste për atë që e quajtën “mospërmbushje e kërkesave të këshilltarëve të PSD Fier nga ana e administratës së bashkisë.”

Në faqen zyrtare të PSD-së Fier në Facebook, postimi që deklaronte bojkotin mban datën 30 prill 2024.

Në shtator 2024, socialdemokratët u rikthyen në Këshill, por ata kundërshtuan dhe debatuan fort për projektvendimet e paraqitura nga administrata e bashkisë Fier. Diskutimet dhe debatet e këshilltarëve socialdemokratë u shoqëruan edhe me votë kundër, ndërsa në mbledhjen e fundit të vitit 2024, pasi kritikuan ashpër drejtuesit vendorë, ata abstenuan në votën për buxhetin e vitit 2025.

Në vijim, gjatë muajve janar dhe shkurt, këshilltarët e PSD-së votuan kundër mazhorancës, madje ankimuan në Prefekturë disa vendime në mbledhjet e Këshillit.

Members of this political force do not hide that they are in conflict with the Socialist Party. Floreta Gjini, PSD advisor to the Fier Municipal Council, says that the crisis has been going on for a long time and blames it on the personal ambitions of the socialist leaders of the region.

"For some time now, the signs of a division have been clearly felt in the left wing of the party, which, essentially, seems to stem from the individuals themselves within this political force," she said.

"Some of them have significantly increased their personal ambitions, trying to take over decision-making, overshadowing the interests of the electorate and the community they represent," Gjini added.

According to her, the local PSD's decision-making has also found support at the center, from where they have been told that "cooperation with the SP" does not prevail over "the integrity and responsibility that the Social Democrats have towards citizens."

“We support the Socialist Party when it acts for the good of citizens, but we do not agree to become complicit if the public interest is violated,” Gjini stressed, adding that the PSD is today a consolidated force in Fier, with a strong base of supporters. “Despite various pressures, we remain steadfast in our principles,” she said.

Otherwise, Socialist Party members on the Municipal Council insisted that there was no clash.

“There is no clash among the left,” Arnando Çupa, secretary of the Fier Municipal Council, was quick to say. “There was no boycott by the Social Democrats, I don’t remember them abstaining on the budget,” he added.

Melsi Bogdani, SP advisor in Fier, also tried to avoid discussing a possible SP-PSD conflict. But he admitted that at the December 27 meeting there were strong debates in the Council, where the Social Democrats opposed the budget.

"The truth is that at the December meeting, when the 2024 budget was to be approved, the Social Democratic group opposed and debated strongly," Bogdani said.

“But I don't know if they voted against or abstained, because I stopped caring after I heard from the chairwoman: 'Approved,'” Bogdani added, referring to the socialist majority, which accounts for 60% of the Council's mandates./ BIRN