Berisha: We are completely withdrawing from the process of electing the ombudsman! The 'narco-majority' played a shameful game

Opposition leader Sali Berisha said that the Democratic Party has fully withdrawn from the process of electing the Ombudsman, accusing the ruling majority of staging a “shameful game” and turning the procedure into a farce aimed at forcing through the government’s preferred candidate, in violation of earlier agreements.

Berisha stated that the Democratic Party has withdrawn its signatures from all candidacies except those submitted by the party itself, while the majority refuses to acknowledge this withdrawal, confirming that the process is being manipulated.

“The narco-majority has played a disgraceful game with this process, but we followed it closely. We were fully aware of their intrigues and their pettiness. If you remember, just a few days ago here, Taulant ‘Toyota Yaris,’ with his many surnames, announced that they were leaving the process to the opposition, and I told you they would regret it. Now they are proving that they do regret it. Can you imagine this? The opposition has withdrawn all signatures from all other candidacies, except for those we selected ourselves: Besim Ndregjoni, Adriana Kalaja, Jola Hysaj, Aranita Brahaj, Haluci, and Dardan Mustafa. These are our candidates.

So what did they do today? Today they pushed forward their own candidate, who, within the framework of the 27 candidacies, had initially received signatures. But we withdrew our signatures. And now Ulsi Manja together with Tao say they do not recognize the withdrawal of the signatures, going so far as to make this shameful declaration in order to carry out what Edi Rama wants. For this reason, we are completely withdrawing from the process. We are no longer a party to the election of the Ombudsman. This is a disgraceful episode created by Edi Rama, and we will absolutely not take part in a farce.

If the process had truly been left to the Democratic Party, we acted reasonably. We did not say, ‘either this candidate or no one else.’ We presented several candidates; they added their own. That candidate is Endri Shabani. The Democratic Party is withdrawing from the process. The Democratic Party will not participate in the process. This is their shame.

Four days ago, as you know, they declared that they were leaving the decision to the opposition, to the Democratic Party, and now they claim they do not recognize the withdrawal of the signatures. The signatures have been withdrawn, and we are not taking part in the process.”