Democrats start investigation on Tirana mayor

TIRANA, April 23 – The governing Democratic Party lawmakers approved in parliament Thursday the creation of a parliamentary investigative commission on what they say to be corruptive methods by the Tirana Mayor Edi Rama, who is also leader of the main opposition Socialist Party.
Opposition Socialists had boycotted the session earlier following their claims for the solution of the process of the new identity cards complaining for the way the Democratic Party government was conducting it, leaving without them hundreds of thousands of poor Albanians unable to pay its cost.
This is surely a political move ahead of the June 28 parliamentary polls.
The Socialists, on their side, had earlier reacted saying that an investigation could not start based on a previous decision by the Constitutional Court.
The Democrats have accused Rama of allegedly receiving bribes from businessmen, especially construction companies, getting permission to build in the capital.
It is a daily charge usually through the voice of the party’s spokeswoman saying that Mr. Rama allegedly gets 15 percent of an object’s cost as a bribe.
That is the second commission created from the parliament to investigate Rama following that of 2003.
Fighting corruption was the main topic which brought the Democrats to power four years ago. But that has turned into a boomerang for the Socialists, now in opposition, mention many cases of alleged corruption, including Prime Minister Sali Berisha. They link Berisha to many scandals like the tenders, the blast at the ammunition disposal factory last year, and mentioning the names of his daughter and son’s connections.
For sure corruption will remain a main topic in the political fight.
The problem remains, does it really matter to Albanians only to hear nice words but really no practical moves?