Prime-Minister Edi Rama unveiled his third cabinet in a live streamed event today. 12 out of
the 16 ministerial posts were given to women. The new cabinet may be viewed as a cabinet
of continuity. Seven Ministries will be headed by the same officials as in the Prime-
Minister’s last cabinet.
The Former Minister of Reconstruction, Arben Ahmetaj, will now act as Deputy Prime-Minister.
Blendi Cuci will continue serving as Minister of the Interior, whereas Niko Peleshi will head
the Ministry of Defense.
Olta Xhacka, Belinda Balluku, Evis Kushi and Elva Margariti have been respectively
appointed to the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Infrastructure, Education and Culture. The
Ministry of Health will be headed by Ogerta Manastirliu.
The Ministry of Justice will be headed by Ulsi Manja, who during the last cabinet chaired the
Parliamentary Commission on Legal Affairs and Human Rights. In the new Government, the
Ministry of Finance will be led by Denilda Ibrahimaj, who until today served as director of
the general tax directorate. Mirela Kumbaro will return to cabinet, heading the Ministry of
Tourism and environment, whereas Frida Krifca will act as Minister of Agriculture.
In a surprising turn of events, Taulant Balla and Blendi Klosi, close allies of the Prime-
Minister in the last cabinet and, judging by their performance in the last elections, two rising
stars in the Socialist Party, have been left out of the new cabinet.
The strategy of weeding out individuals who outperform the rest of the team has been
pursued in the past by the Prime-Minister, and in his speech today Mr. Rama reminded his
collaborators that they are part of a team, and that they should not take on their duties with
the intent on putting their own interests before the interests of the Party.
Despite the fact that members of the opposition and international observers have, to
differing extents, cast doubt as to the integrity of the elections, the Prime-Minister
defended the legitimacy of the electoral results of the 25 th of. April 2021, which had been
described by the Democratic Party and the Socialist Movement for Integration as an
electoral massacre.
Nevertheless, the Prime-Minister implicitly acknowledged that to a certain extent some of
the accusations made by the opposition, namely that there exists no divisive line between
the party and the state, are not unfounded. In his speech, Mr. Rama stated that “the main
theme in any party meeting should not be how to employ members of the party or their
relatives in the state”.
