TIRANA, July 24 – Leaders of the protest in defense of the current National Theatre building submitted on Monday a petition with over 5,000 signatures to Albania’s President Ilir Meta, asking him to veto the government’s bill looking to demolish the earliest cultural building in the capital.
Artists and citizens’ protest representatives stressed they’ve been rallying in defense of the historic National Theatre building over the last six months, trying to protect it from an unconstitutional law and a number of other illegal amendments.
“The law is constructed a social contract, with a set winner and a trade off of several thousand square meters. This law steps on checks and balances, as it allows the parliament to stamp construction permissions ordered by the government, violating its own concessions law, public-private partnership law, procurement law, among others,” Scene and Screen Artists’ Syndicate representative Alert Celoaliaj said.
In a letter accompanying the petition, artists reminded Meta that both buildings the government has deemed invaluable – the National Theatre and the National Experimental Theatre – have founded the country’s most elitist institutions, such as the Academy of Sciences, the Opera and Ballet Theatre, the High Institute of Arts, etc.
“Two series of questions and requests for information to the government have come from Brussels, which means the issue has already taken European proportions. We can confirm this fact from the meeting we have had with the European Delegation Office in Albania and we expect your institution to show the same level of interest concerning this key issue for Albania’s future,” Celoaliaj read from the artists’ statement addressed to Meta.
Artists and citizens have been protesting since the beginning of February concerning the National Theatre bill and have been recently holding daily protests in front of the National Theatre building in a bid to save it as the deadline for the approval of the bill is draws closer.
Meanwhile, another group of renowned Albanian actors also addressed Meta with an open letter and signed petition on Thursday, expressing their agreement with the government’s plan to build a new and improved NT building, but without touching the land surrounding the property.
Part of the artists who signed this second petition are Luftar Paja, Alfred Trebicka and Gazmend Paja, among others.
So far, the Socialist majority has approved the law to negotiate with Fusha Shpk, the preselected construction firm that is to build a new National Theatre building in Tirana as part of a complex of high-rise buildings.
Nonetheless, the government has enough parliament seats to re-vote the bill in case Meta vetoes it, while the opposition abandoned the parliament hall last Thursday, accusing the Socialists they rigged the vote and asking for it to go back to parliament.
