Why Erion Veliaj should sign his resignation

2025-07-09 09:36:00, Opinione Elton Metaj

The Mayor of Tirana, Erion Veliaj, also lost the battle in search of freedom in the High Court and will have to wait in prison for the continuation of the investigations that the Special Prosecution is conducting against him. Confirmed in all three levels of the judiciary, the arrest of Erion Veliaj, in addition to the legal and personal aspects, now brings back to the center of the political discussion the further fate of the Municipality of Tirana, the largest local unit in Albania.

Since February 10, 2025, that is, for five months, Prime Minister Rama has refused to take steps that would resolve the issue of the management of the capital's municipality. At its head continues to be a deputy mayor, while Erion Veliaj was awaiting the completion of the legal steps for the security measure requested by SPAK and confirmed by the court. Now the legal steps to gain freedom or at least stay at home while awaiting trial have been completed for the moment, and it seems that the ball has passed to political solutions.

So what are they:

1 – The first option is for Mayor Veliaj to resign, “understanding” the importance of the situation and the need for Tirana to have a normal and daily direction. This would send Tirana towards early elections for the remainder of the mayor’s term, i.e. for less than 2 years, until he is re-elected in the spring of 2027.

2 – The Council of Ministers could dismiss the Mayor of Tirana to enable the local unit to go to elections. A step that seems unlikely to happen under the current conditions, as the government lacks the detailed reasons set out in the Constitution and the legal framework. Also, such a step would demonstrate the divergences between Rama and Veliaj, who would refuse to "open his arms", forcing the Prime Minister to dismiss him.

3 – The City Council will be invested in the dismissal of Mayor Veliaj for absence from duty, as the opposition is already demanding. Such a step seems unlikely to happen, since beyond the legal debate on whether or not the City Council has the possibility to dismiss him, Veliaj's removal from the city parliament, fulfilling the opposition's request, would be seen as a victory for the opposition. A gift that no one in the majority would want to give to the minority.

4 – The situation will remain the same, with delegated powers and one of the vice-mayors exercising the duty. This scenario has been operating for 5 months, but it has its practical difficulties of city administration and the volume of work, not small. Tirana is a large city, an intersection of many economic interests and not only, so it requires a maximally committed team at the top.

Among these options, Erion Veliaj's resignation seems to remain the best path for everyone, with the exception of the arrested mayor himself, who will need to find words to announce his departure, but also build a strategy to remain "in the game" even without a post.

No matter how unfair the court decisions or even more so the SPAK investigations may seem, Veliaj must rise to the level of the duties he has held for a decade as minister and mayor of the metropolis. The Municipality of Tirana is not a voluntary union of people, but an important institution and the position of its head should be treated as a state duty.

Tirana deserves a mayor, it deserves work and attention, commitment and fatigue, service and humility towards the citizens. For this to happen, Veliaj must sign his resignation. As a genuine political act, one of those that mark the careers of politicians.