The Tirana Municipal Council proposed on Tuesday the dismissal of Mayor Erion Veliaj, who has been in detention for 7 months on charges of corruption and money laundering.
The decision, supported by 50 votes from both political wings – socialist and opposition advisors – came after Prime Minister Edi Rama publicly trusted former Minister of Health and then Education, Ogerta Manstirliu, as a candidate to replace Veliaj in the early local elections.
Otherwise, the opposition does not yet have a publicly supported candidacy for the elections.
The dismissal was proposed by the Socialists themselves based on Article 62 of the Law on Local Self-Government, which provides for the termination of the mandate when the mayor is absent for more than 3 months. Such a proposal had been requested by the opposition since May, but was rejected by the Socialists.
The final decision will be made by the Council of Ministers, which is expected to formalize it without wasting time.
Read: Erion Veliaj's other Tirana
The meeting was attended by the acting chairperson Anuela Ristani, as well as members Gazment Paja and Joleza Koka. At the moment of voting, Aldo Merkoçi, Alfred Muharremi and Fabian Topollari left, while the votes of Alba Kepi, Eris Bejleri, Ervin Dushku and Eriona Bixho were also absent.
The 61-member council had two vacancies after the mandate as deputies of Tedi Blushi and Romina Kuko.
The meeting took place under the tension of an institutional debate, after Veliaj, through a letter to the Council, requested to be heard before the vote and described the procedure as "violation of his constitutional rights".
His request was rejected by the majority, including some of his former council colleagues.
Legal experts argue that Veliaj was unable to be present this time, not due to lack of will, but due to the security measures imposed by the Special Anti-Corruption Court.
Taking the case of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, who despite being under security measures, did not lose his mandate as an MP in the previous legislature, lawyers argue that the same legal position may apply to Veliaj, who will now have to address this claim to the Constitutional Court.
Lexo: The moral cause for which Veliaj is not being investigated
Experts believe that if this initiative is pursued by Veliaj, then there is a risk that his dismissal will be suspended – even if approved by the Prime Minister himself – until a decision is made by the Constitutional Court. This scenario would mean that there would be no early local elections for Tirana.
Veliaj's dismissal comes just weeks after SPAK sent his case to court, officially accusing him of building a corruption scheme with the main beneficiaries being his family circle and a select group of businessmen close to him.
As Citizens.al previously reported, SPAK's investigation mainly involved Veliaj's wife, Ajola Xoxa, whose contracts, businesses, purchases and constructions with suspicious financing were traced.
One of these cases was the project of a road specifically opened to add value to the construction of a palace owned by the Xoxa family, an investigation published on April 10 by Citizens.al.
Read also:
- The Veliaj File: Investigations, Accusations and Facts
- "Custom" road to Xoxa's palace
- "Harabel" artworks in Tirana
