Peleshi: We have several variants for the Administrative-Territorial Reform, let the cross-party cooperation continue

2026-03-29 11:51:00, Kronika CNA

Peleshi: We have several variants for the Administrative-Territorial Reform, let

The Speaker of Parliament and political leader of the Korça Region, Niko Peleshi, shared today several important positions regarding the Administrative-Territorial Reform.

In a statement made this Saturday during a visit to Maliq, Peleshi emphasized that there are several variants and proposals, with their own advantages and disadvantages.

For Pelesh, the cross-party cooperation achieved so far remains important, aiming to lead to the achievement of a common product.

"It is true that the Committee for the Administrative-Territorial Reform has been created. The good news is that so far we have a supra-party cooperation and I hope that the final product will also be a joint product, that is, there will be agreement in both political forces, because this would make the reform more sustainable. If you refer to the variants that I believe have emerged in the media from yesterday's discussions of the SP parliamentary group, where several opinions, proposals and variants were presented by the SP members in this committee, I cannot rush to give an assessment. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages, but each variant that we have heard so far, but also the variants that may be presented to the committee by other members who are not part of the Socialist Party group, must be carefully examined. It is important that the final product must be oriented by the need to increase the efficiency of our municipalities. There are different ways of achieving this, through the harmonization of rural areas with urban areas. One good thing about the 2015 reform is that for the first time We had municipalities that are both rural and urban.

For example, in the Korça region we have the second largest agricultural area in Albania. With the formula before 2015, with urban municipalities and rural communes, we could not use this potential. We took a very big step with the combined urban and rural municipalities and this should be taken into account for the entire country, especially for our region in terms of the agricultural area, so that the formula is such that it releases as much potential and opportunities as possible.

"I think that our regions, our peripheral municipalities, that is, non-metropolitan ones, are today at a very important moment of reflection due to the tendency of migratory movements within the country. There is always a pull towards the metropolis. It is not only in Albania, it is an international phenomenon and it is up to the municipalities and local governments to find the formula on how to develop their potentials, in order to keep the population connected to the territory", said Peleshi.

Asked whether there is a risk of a reform oriented towards the reorganization of votes that gives an advantage to the SP, Peleshi stated that this element should not be an absolute political factor.

"Absolutely, this factor, the political factor, should not be on the table. I do not agree that this factor was also present in the 2014-2015 reform. I am even a witness to that time: there was no such factor and no political formula that guided the reform, except efficiency. I believe that it was a very good step forward, a qualitative step towards the new architecture of our municipalities, but as I said, there is always dynamics and therefore the time has come for a new reform. I wish you all the best and I will also play the role that belongs to me as the Speaker of the Assembly to enable the most positive climate possible. Although it is not always easy, it is one of the biggest challenges of that position to have a bipartisan formula. This would also eliminate prejudices for a politically inspired reform", said Peleshi./CNA