2026-10-21 19:45:20Politikë SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

From the promises of the 2018 student protest, to the Belinda Balluku case and the conviction of former Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri. These are some of the topics that Prime Minister Edi Rama addressed in a virtual conversation with a student protester, published during his trip to Budva for the Berlin Process Summit.

In the video shared on social media, the head of government faces a series of questions related to students' trust in the government, judicial decisions, and his stances on former cabinet officials. One of the issues raised is that of Belinda Balluku.

In the question addressed to Rama, the latter is accused of having defended the former minister when SPAK requested the lifting of immunity. The Prime Minister rejects this interpretation, stating that he has not protected anyone from justice. According to him, the majority's position in Parliament was related to opposing an arrest without trial and not to obstructing investigations. Rama states that subsequent developments have justified this position, since, according to him, SPAK has continued the investigations and expanded the charges.

Another moment of the conversation is related to Saimir Tahiri. When the virtual student is asked a question about the sentence of the former Minister of Interior, Rama reacts by emphasizing that Tahiri has served his sentence and has now returned to his life. The Prime Minister also dwells on the 2018 student protest, asking young people to consult the University Pact document and to distinguish between the demands raised during the protest and the government's written commitments.

Excerpt from the published dialogue:

Student: Do you want to know why we don't trust your dialogue? Because you showed us your loyalty in 2018, when you promised students 5%, which you still haven't paid the bill for today.

Edi Rama: That's what you say, but read the Pact for the University, which was the document that crowned that student protest, and don't confuse the numerous demands that were thrown up and down at the time with the clear and written commitments that the government made.

Student: Because when SPAK requested the arrest of Belinda Balluku, you defended her.

Edi Rama: No, unlike what those who don't know what they're saying, I'm not protecting anyone from justice, quite the opposite. But in that case we protected justice from bias and time proved us right, because our refusal to accept, by raising the cards of Parliament, another arrest without trial in a country that has become the shame of Europe, with 63% of the total number of prisoners in pre-trial detention, did not prevent SPAK from deepening the investigations and exhausting them by expanding the charges.

Student: But how can we believe you when in fact your former Interior Minister, Saimir Tahiri, was convicted and the court wrote that he helped a gang infiltrate the police?

Edi Rama: I'm so sorry! How can a young man drag around in his mouth a person who was convicted many years ago, who is now in his own life after having served his sentence. I don't know. I told you to be careful, be careful of that professor who teaches you things backwards.


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