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The political decline of Erion Veliaj, the young man among a generation of older politicians

2025-02-11 19:45:00, Opinione CNA

The political decline of Erion Veliaj, the young man among a generation of older

Erion Veliaj, 45, mayor of Tirana for ten years and the man who for many years was considered Edi Rama's potential successor at the head of the Socialist Party, spent the night between Monday and Tuesday in the cells of the Tirana detention unit, popularly known as Prison 313 or the Old Prison, while some citizens organized a symbolic celebration to express joy over his arrest.

Veliaj, who is known for the extreme control he exercised over most of the country’s media and for producing propaganda materials through an army of municipal employees, appeared synchronized on social media and on several television stations playing with children in a kindergarten in Yzberisht on Monday morning, in footage labeled as a “live” broadcast. But while conventional and social media were broadcasting these footage, the fact is that in the mayor’s office, investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation were presenting him with the court’s decision for a security measure of imprisonment.

During a decade at the head of Tirana Municipality, Veliaj escaped unscathed from several major investigations and scandals, ranging from the death of a minor worker at the Sharra landfill in 2016 to the Tirana incinerator scandal last year.

But he could not survive an open wealth investigation after an email sent by an unknown person, hidden behind a pseudonym, who seemed to have very accurate information about Veliaj's potentially corrupt benefits through his wife Ajola Xoxa, who in recent years has been presented to the public as an arts patron; although many have raised questions in recent years about where the money came from for several artistic charities created after Veliaj was elected mayor of Tirana, providing a springboard from which it was assumed that he could easily jump to the post of chairman of the Socialist Party to be projected as the country's next prime minister.

Veliaj began his career as the leader of a group of anti-corruption activists, supported by funds provided by donors to raise awareness among the general public about the problems caused by corruption perceived as widespread during the second socialist government, between 2001 and 2005. Veliaj quickly jumped from civil society to politics, using the capital accumulated from the anti-corruption campaign of the Mjaft Movement to create a party called G-99, whose success in the 2009 elections was so meager that the party effectively disappeared shortly after, while Veliaj switched to the Socialist Party, for which he was elected MP in 2013 and mayor of Tirana in 2015.

Kërcimi i shpejtë nga shoqëria civile te politika si dhe kompromiset që angazhimi politik kërkon dukshëm e ktheu Veliajn në një zhgënjim për brezin e tij. Njeriu që nisi karrierën si aktivist kundër korrupsionit, u pa në mënyrë të përsëritur duke treguar besnikëri ndaj Ilir Metës, politikanit që u bë për shumë dhe shumë vite simbol i korrupsionit. Gjatë qeverisjes së parë socialiste, 2013-2017, ndërsa marrëdhëniet mes socialistëve dhe aleatëve të tyre ish-armiq LSI filluan të prishen, Veliaj u pa shpesh si një figurë lojaliste e koalicionit, deri në ditët e fundit, kur u përfol si personi ndërmjetës mes Ramës dhe Metës për një kompromis të orën e fundit për ta ruajtur koalicionin para zgjedhjeve të vitit 2017.

Pozicioni i Veliajt në radhët e socialistëve duket se u forcua shumë pas vitit 2018 kur, pas një hetimi italian, rivali i tij potencial Saimir Tahiri, hasi telashe me drejtësinë. Pozicioni i Tahirit u dobësua gradualisht deri sa ai përfundoi në burg i dënuar për abuzim me detyrën, pasi doli i pafajshëm ndaj akuzës më të rëndë për trafik ndërkombëtar droge.

Rivaliteti mes Veliajt dhe Tahirit ishte një sekret i njohur nga të gjithë dhe që shpesh u shfaq në formën e konfliktit të hapur. Karakteri i Veliajt për të nxitur rivalitete, me raste jo fort politikisht të arsyeshme, duket se ishte edhe një faktor që solli në instancë finale, pas disa tentativave të pasuksesshme, rrëzimin e tij.

Gjatë dhjetorit 2024, kur u bë e qartë që problemet ligjore të Veliajt ishin serioze, pasi SPAK kërkoi dhe mori miratim për bastisje për një numër zyrash dhe banesash në Tiranë dhe Durrës, aleatët e Veliajt në media sugjeruan se informacioni që iu dërgua SPAK përmes një emaili anonim mbante erë konflikti të brendshëm mes socialistëve, një luftë e pakompromis për pushtet, e cila, siç duket, mundet ta rrëzojë një politikan.

Problemi i parë serioz i Veliajt me drejtësinë daton në vitin 2016, kur në landfillin e Sharrës, Ardit Gjoklaj, 17 vjeç, u gjend i vdekur. Para se Gjoklaj të gjendej i vdekur, bashkia ishte angazhuar në një fushatë që ndalonte romët që të grumbullonin plastikë të riciklueshme, duke shpallur se mbeturinat ishin “pronë e bashkisë”. BIRN raportoi në atë kohë se në fakt, fushata fshihte interesat private të një kompanie që ishte lejuar nga bashkia që të grumbullonte materialet me vlerë në landfillin e Sharrës, duke krijuar de facto një monopol në industrinë e riciklimit, e cila në atë kohë ishte goxha e zhvilluar në Shqipëri. Ishte në fakt kjo kompani ajo që rezultoi se punësoi 17 vjeçarin Ardit Gjoklaj për një turn nate, i cili u gjend i vdekur.

Ngjarja kaloi gjithsesi pa shumë telashe për Veliaj, i cili, pasi u akuzua se kishte ndërhyrë në disa media për të pushuar nga puna gazetarë që kishin hetuar apo kishin tentuar të hetonin ngjarjen, hetimet e prokurorisë u mbyllën pa ndonjë pasojë për të apo për zyrtarë të tjerë të bashkisë.

Veliaj escaped without consequences in 2020, when it turned out that the hotel for several municipal officials for a Veliaj propaganda activity in Barcelona was paid for by businessman Shkëlqim Fusha, one of the largest public works contractors, including many contracts with the Municipality of Tirana. Veliaj also escaped in two other cases, the case of the investigation of the Tirana incinerator and the case of the investigation of the 5D file, in which several municipal leaders had created a company under false ownership to benefit from tens of millions of euros of taxpayers' money.

Precisely after these issues passed without consequences for Veliaj, an email sent by citizen Nesti Angoni (who turns out not to exist and is a pseudonym) in February 2024, provided SPAK with data that convinced prosecutors to open a property investigation against the mayor.

A year later, Veliaj ended up behind bars, but it is worth noting that in his case, prosecutors say they have uncovered not just one or more corrupt episodes, but a large-scale scheme of ongoing benefits from at least five businessmen, who are mainly entrepreneurs in the construction sector. According to prosecutors, Veliaj’s benefit schemes include payments to a number of entities registered as non-profit organizations or companies owned or de-facto controlled by Veliaj’s family members. Prosecutors note that they have identified 10 cases of such suspected corrupt transactions and that the benefits identified as irregular amount to at least 110 million lek. In particular, prosecutors mention the fact that over four years, Veliaj’s wife, Ajola Xoxa, has spent about 87 million lek on purchases of jewelry and clothing online, purchases that she did not declare in her asset declaration.

The security measure for five businessmen, including Shkëlqim Fu?a, the contractor of countless projects awarded by the Municipality of Tirana, such as Skënderbeg Square, or Gentian Sula, the contractor of the new theater, constitutes an innovation in terms of the number of people placed under investigation as well as their profile.

The investigation into Veliaj is likely to mark a new stage in the history of the work of prosecutors and investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation to search for data and evidence in complicated suspected corruption schemes, in which profits are hidden through actions disguised as artistic donations. This certainly did not satisfy the opposition, which is facing troubles that its leaders Sali Berisha and Ilir Meta have with the justice system and which has accused SPAK of acting as a puppet of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

Commenting on the arrest, Belind Këlliçi, one of the opposition politicians, suggested that the arrest must have been organized by Edi Rama to undermine a political movement of the Democratic Party, the recruitment of an American campaign manager who previously worked for Donald Trump.

Writing from his cell, Veliaj attacked one of the prosecutors and described the payments identified by SPAK as "sponsorships of cultural activities."

“…I am terribly sorry that some entrepreneurs have fallen into the hands of that lustful indictee, because they sponsored cultural activities for Tirana,” Veliaj wrote on Facebook. Ironically, he and the Socialists’ political enemy, Sali Berisha, seem to have at least one thing in common. Businessman Fatmir Bektashi, who is under investigation on charges of active corruption of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, was this time placed under a second charge, for corrupting Mayor Erion Veliaj.

Veliaj's problems with the judiciary are expected to bring the position of mayor of Tirana, one of the most important political prizes in the country, back into the political arena. In such cases, it is usually up to the prime minister to announce Veliaj's dismissal and the president to call early elections./ reporter.al