DP denounces funds for Kanye West's concert, demands audit from KLSH

Democratic Party MP Enno Bozdo announced that the DP has addressed the Supreme State Audit Office (SSA) with a request to audit the way the government used 4.3 million euros to finance Kanye West's concert.

According to Bozdo, Prime Minister Edi Rama conceived the concert as a way to divert attention from the protests and create a false image of Albania in the international arena.

"Edi Rama designed the private concert precisely as a social fire extinguisher, to extinguish the spirit and soul of the protest, as well as to internationally paint a false Albania, where the spectacle tries to cover up the deep roots of crime and corruption, the theft of elections, the emptying and undoing of Albania, as well as the collapse of education and healthcare. This 'fire extinguisher' was financed with 4.3 million euros, while the damages from natural disasters, such as the floods of thousands of farmers in the south and north of the country, or the lack of logistics for extinguishing fires and coping with earthquakes, were not financed," Bozdo declared.

FULL DECLARATION

On behalf of the deputies of the Democratic Party and the Opposition, members of the Parliamentary Committee on Economy, Employment and Finance, we have today addressed the Supreme State Audit Office with a request to complete a full compliance audit on the legality of the approval and implementation of the Normative Act on the use of the state budget reserve fund to finance a private activity with state money, 4.3 million euros.

So, as everyone is already aware, the Council of Ministers has allocated a full 4.3 million Euros from the State Budget Reserve Fund to finance a private concert by singer "Kanye West" in Tirana, clearly abusing and alienating the procedure and legality of the Normative Act.

Even though the event was private, even though the government had been assured for months that no funding from the state budget would be released, 4.3 million euros were still withdrawn with lightning speed from budget funds, funds intended for natural disasters, such as fires or floods, earthquakes or other major unpredictable events with a major economic and social impact.

In fact, the only major thing happening in Albania during this period is the awakening of Albanian society and the massive revolt of tens of thousands of Albanians, representatives of all political classes and voters, expressed in daily protests, for almost 2 months, against the government of Edi Rama.  

Edi Rama designed the private concert precisely as a social firecracker, to extinguish the spirit and spirit of the protest and to portray internationally a false Albania, where the spectacle attempts to cover up the deep roots of crime and corruption, the theft of elections, the emptying and dissolution of Albania, and the collapsing education and culture. 

And this firefighting was financed with 4.3 million euros, while the damages from natural disasters, such as the successive floods that killed thousands of people in the south and north of the country just a few months ago, or the lack of logistics for extinguishing fires or coping with earthquakes, were never financed. 

On the other hand, the Normative Act constitutes a direct blow to fiscal discipline and the principles of good governance. The use of this instrument by the reserve fund in this case conflicts with:

• Article 101 of the Constitution: Normative acts are reserved exclusively for taking temporary measures in cases of "need and urgency." An entertaining musical concert, which requires months of planning and negotiations, does not constitute under any circumstances either a state need or a national emergency.

• Law on Budget System Management (No. 9936): Article 5 clearly stipulates that the Reserve Fund exists only to cover expenses that are not known and are objectively impossible to predict during budget drafting.

This action deeply deviates from European best practices and international guidelines for public finance management, which dictate absolute transparency and strict restrictions on the use of emergency funds. 

So here we are dealing with the failure to meet the essential criteria of legality: unpredictability, impossibility of planning and respect for budgetary procedures. 

For this reason, we have asked the SAI to urgently clarify:

• When exactly did negotiations for this concert begin and was this before the approval of the 2026 annual budget?

• Is there a detailed budget for this amount of 4.3 million Euros, as required by Budget Instruction No. 9?

• How can the government prove "impossibility of planning" for an event that requires a proper contractual and logistical agreement?

The answers to these questions are actually well known to every Albanian, but we as the opposition have the obligation to sanction a European standard by saying stop once and for all to this flagrant abuse of budget money, which finances the cosmetics of Edi Rama's government.

Because, using the state budget as a personal pocket, without asking about the law and procedure, is an act that is not encountered today even in those considered bankrupt states. Not even in countries that aim to become part of the EU, within just a few years. 

We hope that the Albanian Supreme Audit Office will rise to the level of the duty that the law defines for it, by following through on this procedure that would embarrass everyone, except Rama and his government!

Thank you.