The deeper the scandal of the Llogara tunnel tender deepens, for which the opposition denounced this Friday that the approved project is missing two bridges, bringing the total figure of suspected corruption to 75 million euros, the stronger the silence becomes from both Prime Minister Edi Rama and Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku.
Rama has managed to avoid, at least for the moment, facing questions about his deputy. He has achieved this sometimes with grace, sometimes with ingratitude. With ingratitude when he appeared at the press conference with the EU Ambassador to Tirana, Silvio Gonzato, as he closed this conference when one of the journalists present asked to ask the Brussels chief diplomat about the fact that Balluku had been taken into custody.
At other times, the Balluku scandal has been drowned out by other media events, from the death of the founder of the Socialist Party, Fatos Nano, to the approval of the gender equality law in the Assembly on Thursday. The latter was helped, with or without awareness, by the Democratic Party and the fruitless debate it launched about this law, which also put it in conflict with the European Union.
Edi Rama has shown in the past that he has removed himself and his subordinates from office for much less than the charges and figures that Balluku is accused of. But what is preventing him from implementing the standard he has set himself this time?
Voxnews.al sources close to Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku suggest that Rama is himself involved in the Llogara tunnel scandal. The involvement of the head of government in this tender has been reinforced by Belinda Balluku herself, who in a careless confession with her associates in these turbulent days with SPAK has stated that 'the same messages that he has with Ervis Berberi, he also has with Edi Rama'.
As a reminder, Balluk's messages with Berberi, according to the SPAK file, show the fictitious competition in the Llogara tunnel tender, the intervention of the Deputy Prime Minister to predetermine the winner through messages and meetings with Berberi, where on at least one occasion she welcomed the latter at home.
In addition to the messages, as Voxnews.al's sources claim, Balluku has told her close associates that she did not predetermine the winner of the Llogara tunnel 'on her own', but that she acted according to Edi Rama's orders.
According to these statements by the Deputy Prime Minister, if Balluku sinks, Edi Rama sinks too, and apparently this is the reason why the Prime Minister has not yet dismissed his deputy. The order of 'sinking' will also determine the lifespan of the other. If Rama sinks first, Balluku follows him directly. But, if Balluku sinks first, then Edi Rama probably gains 'a few extra minutes...'
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