The National Theater troupe announced that it would take over and occupy the theater building if the government refuse to halt its project to tear down the building and replace it with skyscrapers.
Artists took part in a hearing with the Parliamentary Media Committee and Minister of Culture Mirela Kumbaro. The latter, however, failed to show up.
Via an open letter, the artists condemned the illegal expropriation of the public land, on which the theater building rests, to give it to the private company Fusha shpk.
We feel betrayed and cannot enter any negotiations that contemplate the destruction of the National Theater. The introduced law is arbitrary.
If we do not receive an answer by Friday, we, the theater troupe, we, the artists will be within our rights to take over the building as the only means to make our voices heard.
Actor Robert Ndrenika said, revolted, that the absence of the Minister shows that the government, who is grabbing public land to award it to oligarchs, has lost all consideration for anyone:
Their boycott [of the hearing] shows that now, war must be declared. I came here prepared for a debate and to reason with them. Meanwhile, they don’t even show up.
I can say that the public-private partnership on the National Theater land is straight up, arbitrary, theft. This is theft. The land has belonged to the theater community for so long and now someone comes in and wants to rob us.
Chairwoman of the Media Committee Albana Vokshi sided with the artists and labelled the act of awarding public land to a private company as “an institutional coup.”
The special draft law that transfers the public land where the National Theater is located to the private company Fusha shpk was made public a few days ago. The law sidesteps all existing legally mandated tender and privatization procedures, in addition to setting a dangerous precedent for the rule of law in Albania. Read more about the special draft law here.
