TIRANA, Oct. 2 – Opposition leaders in Albania have accused the government of benefiting from cooperation with the criminal underworld and thus failing to fight organized crime in the country.
The reactions come following a speech by U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu, who urged Albania to do more to fight organized crime.
Democratic Party and opposition leader Lulzim Basha said the ruling Socialist Party and Prime Minister Edi Rama have had to rely on the criminal underworld in their effort to win elections and take control of the economy.
“This country today is not governed, it is ruled by crime. The solution is the removal of the political-criminal cartel headed by the prime minister of purchased votes,” Basha said on Twitter. “DP is preparing and political and legislative plan against crime, a large opposition front, an alliance of values with all Albanian criticizes.”
Petrit Vasili, who heads the parliamentary group of the Socialist Movement for Integration, said the government is leaving Albania at the mercy of criminal gangs.
Rama “has no intention of fighting the criminal gangs he leads, encouraging the State Police not to do their job, but rather to collect votes for his political party,” Vasili said in a statement.
Last week, Prime Minister Rama accused Basha of working against Albania’s interests by focusing most of his public accusations of alleged ties between the government and organized crime.
Rama said that in doing so the opposition was lobbying in favour of the Albanian crime underworld and of substantiating the allegations of some European nationalist parties which are speaking of an alleged wave of ethnic Albanian crime as an excuse to keep Albania away from the European Union.
