Berisha: Strike is political. Opposition: Start dialogue

Berisha declared that when in power, the DP has worked to improve the life of the former politically persecuted and prisoners, despite their political convictions.  

Berisha accused the hunger strikers of being impostors, since they have received the compensation they needed in money and shares. He also accused the opposition MPs of giving them bottles with petrol inside the strike premises.

Berisha appealed the relatives of the protesters to remove their people from the strike, insinuating that the government will not accept any of their requests.

The Socialist Parliamentary Group leader, Gramoz Ruci, asked the Prime Minister Sali Berisha to give up from blaming the opposition for the hunger strike of the former political prisoners.

“Go and tell them what you have done for this category, if you have facts, rather than hiding yourself”, Ruci declared.

Majko: Hunger strike, economic

The Socialist MP, Pandeli Majko expressed his concern for the situation created at the hunger strike of the former political prisoners, which he called an economic strike of dignified people.

“Before the fireworks for the EU candidate status, we saw another flame, that of another striker”, Majko declared.

According to him, the situation is very severe, with the Prime Minister considering the strike economic and the Ministry of Finances saying that they have been compensated for their time served in prison.

“The Prime Minister must negotiate with the strikers. They don’t need visits in hospital by the Health Minister when they have committed self-immolation”, Majko declared.

The reaction of the Parliament Speaker, Jozefina Topalli, was immediate. She considered Majko’s intervention as hypocrit and unjust. She reminded him that when the Socialists were in power, they did nothing for this category.

Topi: A solution for the strike

The New Democratic Spirit declared for the media that an urgent solution must be found for the political prisoners’ issue. Topi added that now they cannot behave with a communist logic.

Referring to the EU candidate status, Topi declared that it’s a merit of the Albanian people and should not be treated as a success of one party or a failure of another.

“I want to express my solidarity to the hunger strikers and express my regret for the sacrifice acts. I wish a quick recovery to Mr. Ndreca and Mr. Bejko. I appeal the responsible institutions, the government and parliament to sit and discuss a solution, because this is their legal obligation, a moral obligation and a democracy standard. Stop with the communism reminding technique of giving people names. The NDS fully supports the annual report of the EU on Albania and the EC recommendation for the conditioned candidate status. NDS refuses to see the EU report as a success of any political party, or as a failure of any other. The citizens have witnessed the conflicts and the delicate political dialogue. They know the politicians very well, and the political forces that hold most of the responsibility for the conditions in this status”, Topi declared.

Rama: Government’s deaf ear to strike

The opposition leader, Edi Rama, referred to the situation created by the hunger strike of the political prisoners.

Rama declared that the government is silent in front of this situation, which is a product of reality where a small group of people who have ties with the government are getting richer each day and the rest of the population is getting poorer.

“You cannot stay silent to what is happening in front of us today, in a lost corner of the capital city, under the watch of all cameras. I am talking about a group of people whose life has not been generous yesterday and today it is more cynical than ever. They are desperate after this government has been deriding them for 20 years. They are desperate because of the arrogance level of this government, which cannot find any reason in their minds or hearts to at least listen to these people, because this government has no heart to feel the pain of those Albanians who were not part of the government’s clientele|”.
 

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