More than four hours of discussions on territorial reform, intense debates and direct clashes between Prime Minister Edi Rama and several left-wing mayors. The meeting held in Kuç, Vlora, where the focus was on the new territorial map, was far from a routine meeting.
Sources indicate that tensions have culminated in Rama's confrontations with the mayors who are expected to lose their status, including Policani, Dimal, Selenica and Divjaka.
One of the most tense moments was during the clash between the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Polican, Adriatik Zotkaj. Rama made it clear that, in his opinion, he should not have been part of the meeting, while also harshly criticizing the protest held earlier in Polican, where Socialist Party membership cards were burned.
Rama: "You shouldn't have been here at all. What the policeman did by burning the cards was an act of impudence."
Zotkaj, who has long publicly opposed the merger of the Municipality of Polican, arguing that the reform will take services away from citizens, responded by defending his position.
Zotkaj: "The community responded to the ungrateful actions of the SP and the Prime Minister. If there is any ungratefulness, it is that of the SP."
The debate continued with the mayor of Dimal, Juliana Memaj. During the discussion about the role and competencies of local government, Rama addressed the mayor with irony.
Rama: "You great leaders!"
Memaj's response was direct and further tense the situation.
Memaj: "What a black leader! We have become like municipal workers."
This statement, according to sources, irritated the Prime Minister, who asked the Dimali mayor to leave the meeting.
The clashes were not limited to Polican and Dimal. The mayors of Selenica and Divjaka, Nertil Bello and Josif Gorrea, have also debated with Rama and the Minister of State for Local Government, Arbjan Mazniku, defending their stance against the merger of their municipalities.
On the other hand, Rama has claimed that the mayors' opposition is going beyond the institutional debate, accusing them of inciting local communities against territorial reform.
Another strong point of the discussion was what the mayors described as a double standard in the selection of municipalities to be merged. According to them, municipalities such as Peqin, Vau i Dejës or Roskovec have weaker performance indicators, but have not been included in the same way in the proposed changes.
The meeting, which lasted over four hours, focused entirely on territorial reform and how municipalities will be reorganized on the new map.
