Yesterday, President Ilir Meta held a press conference where he clarified the procedures regarding the financing of the Vlora-Orikum road. Prime Minister Edi Rama and other Socialist Party officials have accused him of blocking the funding for the project.
Meta stated that the financing of the Vlora-Orikum road was foreseen to be done by the government by transferring the funds of a loan received from the Saudi Fund for the Vlora River road.
According to the President, a year ago the government asked the Saudi Fund to terminate the loan agreement, which was signed 3 years ago and decided to use these funds for the Vlora-Orikum road.
But this procedure according to Meta is unconstitutional as the government has not asked permission to conduct negotiations on concluding the second agreement.
The ‘plenipotentiary’ is a document issued by the competent authority of the Republic of Albania, which authorizes one or several officials to represent the state or the Government in the conduct of negotiations, initial wiling and signing of an international agreement. It is given by the Foreign Minister after the authorization of the President.
In this case, according to Meta, the constitutional and legal procedure to be provided with authorization to negotiate the financial terms of a loan agreement concluded on behalf of the Republic of Albania, has not been respected.
Meta published the correspondence with the Ministry of Finance, where it is stated by the Ministry that no negotiations were held for the financing of this project. They add that this means the authorization of the President is not necessary.
Meta then quoted the words of Prime Minister Rama who on Monday in Vlora said that negotiations were complete.
He accused the government that in this case, it first lied to the Assembly about the Vlora River project, for which the loan was initially taken. Second, the president accused Prime Minister Rama of violating the Constitution by conducting negotiations without the President’s authorization for full power.
“All roads are in violation of the Constitution and the protection of the interests of citizens is questioned as they are the ones who pay for every loan. This agreement is negotiated in bad faith and without accordance with the law. He questioned the seriousness of the state after holding the loan hostage for three years and then changed the destination of funds to satisfy other interests. “
In the end, Meta said that the accusations directed against him by Rama are made for political propaganda since we are on the eve of the elections.
Finance Minister Anilda Denaj denied any wrongdoing and said that no negotiations were conducted as it is merely a transfer of funds from one project to another.
