Tomorrow's meeting for Veliaj's dismissal, the Municipal Council: If you fail, submit claims in writing

A day before the meeting, where Erion Veliaj's dismissal from the post of Tirana mayor is expected to be discussed with an official letter. Veliaj, who is in the 10 February cell, had asked to be heard before the vote.

In document provided by Report TvThe Council suggests to Veliaj that if he fails to attend the meetings, he can submit in writing all his claims, which will be managed and read during the hearing.

“As follows your request to be physically present at the Municipal Council meeting, in the event of opportunity to be present, please let your observations of writing to the Municipal Council, so that they can be managed and informed of this meeting”, says Veliaj's letter.

On the other hand, DP leader Sali Berisha described Veliaj's presence at the meeting as fair, but stressed that it would serve to confront him with the file on charges.

“Our advisers guarantee they will vote for him to be heard. You'll see how our councilors will rank in front of him and the citizens of the entire black file, even the ones he listed SCAP and the ones he hid. But I think it's the most basic thing to make a sound measure.”, Berisha said.

Veliaj himself requested that he attend the meeting of this council, which is scheduled for Tuesday (September 23rd).

In his request, Mayor Veliaj explains that the absence for over 6 months is not the result of his will, but the result of a disproportional security measure, which he claims will be rejected in any judicial instance until the European Court of Human Rights.

Its “cause is neither Socialist Party Chairman nor Socialist Party, nor you council, but a judicial decision that has unjustly interrupted a constitutional mandate”, Veliaj expresses his request.

Full text of letter to members of the Tirana Municipal Council:

Honored mayor and members of the Municipal Council,

I have been informed by the media that, on September 23rd, 2025, the Tirana Municipal Council meeting will be held, with the approval of the proposal to the Council of Ministers for my dismissal from the mayor's post, with the argument of lack over three months in office.

I want to point out clearly that this absence is not the result of my will, but the result of a disproportionate security measure that will be rejected in any judicial instance until the European Court of Human Rights.

The measure has not only isolated citizen Erion Veliaj, but has paralysed the capital's governance, leaving more than 1 million citizens of Tirana without elected leaders. The judicial system, in the absence of a full responsibility for the power and consequences of its decisions, did not take into account that the security measure should balance public interest in the criminal investigation with the equally significant interest in ensuring local governance. That is the real reason he has produced today's political, institutional and constitutional crisis. Its founder is neither Socialist Party Chairman nor Socialist Party, nor you councilors, but a judicial decision that has unjustly interrupted a constitutional mandate. Any attempt to hide this truth does not serve the solution, but it distorts it.

Lack imposed by a precautionary measure, not by a final guilty decision, is neither willful nor serious constitutional violation, but open violation of the principle of democratic representation and a dangerous precedent for local governance.

I understand your concern to seek a political solution. But I cannot understand that this crisis, caused by the court and where <x0viktim” is the local self-government, “resolved” with another violation of the Constitution but by local government itself. Such a decision would replace the will of 160 thousand electors, who have spoken politically with an unjustified act, creating dangerous precedents for local democracy.

I said and I repeat, and I want you to believe me as you've done all these years: it's not about my personal interest. The mandate is not mine, but the citizens of Tirana, who for the third time have given me the honor of my life by entrusting me with the direction of the city. The mandate didn't protect me, on the contrary, is the reason I'm isolated today, but it forces me to defend the four-year contract that citizens signed with their vote. I have an obligation to defend every sweat we've spilled together to gain that trust.

Tirana Mayor is a constitutional body that has the right, and the Tirana Municipal Council has the obligation to respect the regular legal process in any decision making. For these reasons and in respect to the constitutional principle of the legal and legal process to be heard, I request to be present and to be heard at the municipal council meeting to give the necessary clarifications before the decision is made on my dismissal proposal.