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OP-ED

Edi Rama's Empty Resolution

Politiko 2026-03-17 14:40:04
Edi Rama's Empty Resolution

Armand Maho

Edi Rama once again rushed to appear aligned with the United States by approving a resolution declaring the state of Iran a sponsor of terrorism. At first glance, this seems like a wise decision by a NATO member country which, although the smallest player in the alliance, stands alongside its most powerful ally, the United States, in a conflict where, most likely, it has little real stake — except seeing it as a good opportunity to raise prices and extract taxes.

But what is the Iranian regime that Rama calls a terrorist, and why does the way he exercises power in Albania resemble so closely the model of the ayatollahs?

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Ayatollah is the highest authority in the country. Despite the existence of a president and a parliament, it is he who controls everything. He commands the Revolutionary Guard and the army, foreign policy, government appointments, and the judiciary. He is not subject to elections and is chosen only by the Assembly of Experts, which is renewed every eight years. His mandate ends only with death or removal.

If one looks closely, in Rama’s psycho-political profile, this is the ideal state he is gradually trying to build in Albania. The only difference is that, given his limitations, he cannot openly oppose allied countries, which he hypocritically calls partners. He uses that term only as long as those states tolerate his corruption and his ties to trafficking and organized crime; the moment they show signs of opposing this model, he does not hesitate to label them corrupt — or even, to some extent, hostile.

In terms of state-building, Rama in these years of power does not differ much from an Iranian ayatollah. In fact, in terms of reach and control, he may wield even more power than they do. Through networks of corruption and the system he has built, he controls everything in the country: parliament, which he has reduced to a puppet; the judiciary (the so-called vetting process had precisely this aim), the police, the army, organized crime, elections, the media, and beyond. The only difference is that he has not done this through the constitution, but through systemic corruption. In Iran, the leader of the opposition has been under house arrest since 2014; here, Rama kept one under house arrest for a year and lobbied to have him declared non grata. Meanwhile, the head of another opposition party has been held in prison for over a year without evidence. His delusions of grandeur have gone so far as to erect, in the center of Tirana, a building bearing his own image, as a provocation to the statue of Skanderbeg.

Yet Rama is right when he instructs Taulant Balla — beyond the expensive watches he receives as gifts — to draft a resolution pointing the finger at Iran as a sponsor of international terrorism. Only, this stance reflects the behavior of a political trickster. Or perhaps he is seeking credit at a difficult moment for his power. With this move, he seeks to cover up the cancerous state of money laundering he has built in the heart of Tirana. Recently, an investigation by the Belgian prosecution revealed that a single ordinary trafficker owned 40 apartments in Tirana, Durrës, and Fier.

The resolution may have been passed, but anyone who believes Rama did this for the good of Albania is, at best, naive — or, at worst, compromised. At this difficult moment, as allied states begin to turn against him, the prime minister is desperately searching for his next protective patron. For this, he relies on assemblies of the wealthy and the palatial elites — offspring of crime and corruption — and does not need the opposition’s presence.

If Rama were sincere in his fight against terrorism, he would first stop the madness of construction in this country, hand Belinda Balluku over to justice, fight organized crime, and allow free elections. Because resolutions initiated with Taulant Balla — whose name appears in countless wiretaps and criminal files in Albania — are nothing more than “empty noise dressed up as substance.”

 

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