Today, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama asserted that the controversial demolition of the National Theatre would take place, stressing that he eagerly awaits the construction of a new building.
During a press conference, Rama claimed that it is ‘the majority’ that decided to demolish the National Theatre building. He added that he could not allow “certain minorities” to impose their will in the decision-making matters of the government, that has been chosen by the people.
On May 8, the government transferred ownership of the National Theatre land to the Tirana Municipality in a controversial move.
In the same press conference, Rama denied the existence of oligarchs in Albania, which is one of the main opposition claims about the alleged corruption of his government.
The term “oligarchs” is used wrongly, Rama claimed, to refer to certain people that are only rich entrepreneurs but do not exercise undue influence on the government whatsoever.
The majority passed a special law tailored to award the National Theatre land to Fusha shpk, a company owned by a wealthy entrepreneur and government’s favorite bidder, to built residential towers. The government then stepped back from the previous project after criticism by the EU and two years of public protests.
With the latest transfer of the theatre ownership to the Tirana Municipality, the latter can now award the land to private companies for construction.
Albania’s National Theatre was included in Europa Nostra’s lists of 7 most endangered sites in Europe for 2020, and the European Commission has called for its preservation.
