Andi Bushati: What if Lali gets out of prison?

At the very moment when Albanians have poured onto the boulevard as a sign of anger against theft and systematic oppression, the prisons are being emptied by those in power. The last one who may leave the cell is Erion Veliaj, whose arrest measure will be reviewed on September 15th in the Supreme Court. Previously, the Constitutional Court had returned his case for reconsideration, questioning the argumentation of keeping an elected person in isolation. Lali is also moving in this direction. In addition to the international lobbying that has exceeded half a million euros with official figures alone, Veliaj is trying to show that he is also indispensable for the Municipality. He removed the delegation and then forced Anuela Ristan to resign. He did not appoint a successor to her, announcing that from now on he would sign himself for those related to the institution where he continues to remain the acting mayor. He also dismissed the secretary general, returning a loyalist to this post. 

So far, the moves are clear. On the eve of the trial, Veliaj aims to show that his work is necessary to head the local administration of Tirana and that any opposition by the court to this reality would be a harm to the public interest and to the citizens. 

But while this strategy might have been expected, what has fundamentally changed is the behavior of Prime Minister Rama. As soon as Lali made the first moves to control the Municipality, his boss supported him. A statement from the government office made it clear that this was his right and mentioned the citizens' interest in having "their chosen one" in charge. 

The question is why Rama slapped him in the face the first time he dismissed Ristan from prison, while this time he legitimized him? Why did Veliaj now remove the delegation from his deputy, for "sins", which, as he himself mentions, dated back a long time ago? Why didn't he act immediately when the constitutional court dismissed her, even though Rama had signed to dismiss her? And the prime minister, why did he change from white to black and from the scolding, the call not to protest in favor of Lali, the elimination of his people from the parliamentary group, suddenly turn into a supporter of the "elected" president?

The only logical answer to these questions is found in a new pact between them, on the eve of the process for reviewing the mayor's arrest measure. This suspicion is also confirmed by the recent meeting in Lundë, on the day of the meeting with the Tirana delegates, between Rama and Veliaj's lawyer, where the modalities of running the municipality from prison and the signing of the documents that the legal defenders would transport from the municipality to the cell were discussed. 

It is not known what specific interest forced Rama to make this pirouette, perhaps the upcoming elections in Tirana, or perhaps a scandal to divert as little attention as possible from him, but one thing is clear, by September 15, the prime minister and his former dolphin, now injured, will join forces to achieve the goal. 

The question is: what happens if they succeed? If political pressure manages to defeat justice this time too? One thing is easily understood, Veliaj abroad would decree the end of what a majority knows, but which there are still others who want to believe: justice independent of internationals. If today there is no longer a single high-ranking official imprisoned for three incinerators that do not exist, if none of them is now convicted for scandalous concessions in healthcare, if one deputy prime minister Rama does not hand her over and another is found on the run, Veliaj's possible return to office would shatter any illusions about justice reform. This would truly be the end. 

\However, as terrible as the collapse of this false dream may seem, whatever the weight of disappointment, this could be one of those evils that come for good. 

Such an event would open the door for those protesters who still have hope in SPAK, and for the useful idiots who continue to deceive themselves that we live in a democracy, that there is no longer an intermediary body, no media, no opposition, and even less justice, that has the strength to correct this regime in any way. If the fairy tale with the new justice system finally collapses, the challenge that will emerge will be the real one, that of confrontation, with nothing in between, between the dissatisfied people who have taken to the streets and a single man.  

LAPSI.AL