Apparently the PM Edi Rama gambling reform’s goal has been to close the (physical) gambling businesses in favor of those online, while at the same time selling this out to the public as a war against gambling.
It can be understood by the way PM Rama has changed his statements throughout the last week regarding online gambling: he has gone from a categorical stand than the government will put an end to online gambling to today’s stand that leaves open the possibility for online gambling to continue its activity. Below Exit.al looks through PM Rama’s statements.
Today the Prime Minister stated in Parliament that:
I am sure that this parliamentary group will give […] a most-awaited New Year present: the shutdown of electronic casinos and sports gambling sites, from soccer matches to races of any type of quadrupeds out there in the world fauna, and [the shutdown] of online gambling.
With the agreement that the “online” part of it is a very complex way, as other countries [experiences] show, and that we will reach to a well-studied conclusion based on which we can have a further discussion later on.
On 16 October 2018 , at the tv show “Dritare” on News24 the Prime Minister said that:
On January 1 all [gambling sites] will shut down. […] In case there will be permission for online [gambling] that will be in a second phase.
On 4 October 2018, Prime Minister Edi Rama in a Twittered that:
The dirty gambling money is spilling through trashcans [Rama’s word for “the media”] to excrete the news that this is done to keep the online monopoly. Don’t waste your energies, you cannot save gambling anymore! Gambling and this online monopoly will both die on New Year’s Eve.
