
Sali Berisha held a meeting with Albanians in New Jersey this Sunday, where he spoke about the political situation in Albania, the country's depopulation and the consequences that, according to him, Edi Rama's misgovernance is bringing.
During the meeting, one of the attendees, businessman Akil Ceci, originally from Tropoja, expressed his appreciation for Berisha and asked him several questions. He demanded to know what the opposition would do to overthrow Edi Rama's government, also asking if the candidate for the Tirana Mayorship had been determined.
In his response, Berisha focused on Rama's 13-year rule, describing the violation of the law and the Constitution as one of the biggest problems of this period. To illustrate his position, he also referred to the 1997 crisis and pyramid schemes, recalling his decision to abide by the law even in an extremely difficult political situation.
Regarding the Municipality of Tirana, Berisha announced that the candidate has not yet been finalized. He said that discussions will continue to select the most suitable candidate for the capital.
Akil Ceci: I am Akil Ceci, a businessman in the construction field in America from Tropoja. My last name is also Ceci and on behalf of the Ceci family I am very proud that you managed to clear your name and show us and the whole world that you are the cleanest political figure that Albania has had in 30 years of democracy. I have a couple of questions for you. I wanted to ask you that you said before that the technical government should leave Edi Rama and overthrow the government. Doctor, time is passing very quickly and it has been many years since Rama's government ruled Albania. What will you do, doctor, after this meeting that we have here, what will you do to overthrow Rama's government and have you thought of the name of the candidate for the Municipality of Tirana.
Berisha: Very fair question. I think that if you analyze the 13-year government of Edi Rama, the biggest problem in which he then exceeded every kind of boundary and limit is the violation of the law and the Constitution. A government that swears by the Constitution must adhere to the law with all his determination, there is nothing more useful for the citizens and more important. I will illustrate this with a not so positive example from my life. In 1997, the Pyramids, which we really did not know, created a deep, major crisis. The Socialists told the citizens that the government had taken that money, the government had not touched a single penny.
Okay... I tell my associates that we, as long as the Albanians think that we have taken their money, should not accept to govern them, we should go out into opposition to prove to them that we have not taken a single penny and then let them judge for themselves. The agreement was made, the campaign. During the campaign, Fatos Nano went from hall to hall and said: I will return every penny to you. Sali Berisha told them: debt is as old as man, there is no law in the world that allows you to recognize a debt that you did not take. I tell you honestly here that I have asked myself many times, but still, I could return that money to them, yes, and stay in power, but if I returned the money I would be doing something illegal. I did not do that. I enforced the law, I enforced the law under terribly difficult conditions, they left nothing, they accused me of crimes against humanity, but after 4 years, Albanians voted for the Democratic Party.
Even in 2005, the country was ruled by gangs. They call crime a useful tool, and gangs are everywhere. Citizens asked me: what are you going to do with these people? I told them the law, I would show them the law. With these police officers. The truth is this. It wasn't the police officers who didn't want to enforce the law, it was the politicians who didn't allow them to enforce it. And they told me that we have a request: that if we start this battle, no one should stop us. And they enforced the law and in 18 months 1050 gangster bosses were brought to justice. That's why I declared zero tolerance towards crime and cartels. The candidate for the Mayor of Tirana has not yet been announced. We will talk and try to give the capital the most excellent candidate it has ever had.