FLASH NEWS
Will the elections in Tirana be canceled and Manastirliu appointed as the acting mayor?!
2025-10-11 12:52:36 / POLITIKË
In early November 2018, when Ilir Meta as President refused to appoint Sandër Lleshaj as Minister of Interior, Edi Rama distributed a message to the group of socialist deputies.
The message contained the order not to comment on the President's decision and the advice ' that politics is a game of chess '.
Rama's level in chess as a sport is unknown, but in political chess since 2013 he has won battles with the opposition and prevented chess games within the Socialist Party, sometimes with grace, sometimes with disfavor.
Now in his fourth term in office with a 'normal President' as he requested when Ilir Meta's term ended and with the opposition having its own troubles, Edi Rama has shifted the political chessboard to independent institutions.
One of these institutions is the Constitutional Court. Immediately after the latter announced the suspension of Bajram Begaj's decree setting elections for November 9 in Tirana as well, a message was distributed to the Socialist Party structures in the capital asking them to continue with the campaign, that the suspension decision did not affect the elections and that the final decision would be given on October 31.
But, the message distributed to the socialist structures of the capital was denied by the State Election Commissioner, Ilirjan Celibashi, who said that the CEC has suspended preparations for the elections in Tirana and that even if the Constitutional Court decides on July 31 on Erion Veliaj's appeal, the infrastructure for holding the elections on November 9 cannot be prepared.
Consequently, more than logical and legally supported, the message distributed by the party leaders to the Socialists of Tirana on Thursday is a form of indirect pressure by Edi Rama on the Constitutional Court, conveying to it the message that "we are continuing the work on the elections and are awaiting a decision that allows these elections."
The message from the Constitutional Court has been received, the problem is, will this court have the courage to declare constitutional a presidential decree that even first-year law students understand is unconstitutional?
Chances are no, because the Constitution leaves no room for interpretation when it states in its Article 115 that, 'if the Government's decision to dismiss a locally elected official is appealed to the Constitutional Court, that decision is suspended'.
This very prediction suggests that the court's only decision regarding the part of Bajram Begaj's decree is to annul it. This is the first foreseeable step of the Constitutional Court.
The second step is to consider the second object of Erion Veliaj's request, which challenges in this court the decision to dismiss him from the Council of Ministers.
The substantive review of this request could take weeks and months, meaning that a possible decision could come at best at the end of January 2026.
This means that even if the Constitutional Court considers Veliaj's dismissal legal, the early elections will give the new mayor only one year of power at the helm of Tirana.
The short duration discourages candidates from participating in this process and, above all, it would be a financial and time waste with little benefit for the socialists.
This is where Edi Rama's plan B may come into play, the plan that appoints Ogerta Manastirliu as mayor without an election.
In this scenario, Manastirliu is initially appointed deputy mayor of Tirana and then voted by the capital's Municipal Council, where the Socialists have the necessary majority, as mayor-designate./ Vox News
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