Para pak ditësh, Flasshqip kumtoi një lajm për pjesëmarrjem e Kryeministrit Rama në një Forum Ekonomik që do të zhvillohet në datat 4-6 Shtator në Toronto, metropolin kanadez ku mendohet që jetojnë rreth 30,000 shqiptarë. Lajmi ishte konfirmuar nga dy burime. I pari burim, organizatorët e forumit në fjalë, ku Flasshqip u akreditua si media. I dyti, një mesazh i ambasadës shqiptare në Ottaëa, shpërndarë te një rreth i ngushtë në formë ftese për një darke me Kryeministrin Rama në datën 6 shtator.
Fotografia e Ramës u shfaq për ditë me radhë në listën e pjesmarrësve. Befas dje, fotografia është hequr nga Website i International Economic Forum of the Americas dhe një mesazh i dytë i ambasadës ka njoftuar të ftuarit për anulimin e darkës me Edi Ramën, fakte që konfirmuan kësisoj plotësisht anullimin e vizitës private të Kryeministrit shqiptar në Kanada.
Nuk dihen shkaqet e verteta të këtij anulimi. Arsye mund të jetë situate e rëndë politike në Shqipëri, por një nga arsyet mund të jetë edhe refuzimi i autoriteteve më të larta të Ontarios dhe Kanadasë per t’i ofruar atij një pritje të veçantë në kushtet e një vizite me ftesë të një OJQ-je private. Ajo që dihet me siguri është që marrëdhëniet me Kanadanë kanë pësuar një krisje qysh nga historia me kompaninë kanadeze “Bankers Petroleum”. Marrëveshja për mbrojtjen e Investimeve prej atij momenti ka mbetur pezull dhe nuk nënshkruhet nga Qeveria Kanadeze. Ndërkohë, kujtojmë që Kryeministri i vetëm që ka vizituar zyrtarisht Kanadanë ka qenë Berisha në vitin 2007 (pak para pranimit të Shqipërisë në NATO), ndërsa vizita e fundit zyrtare e rangut të lartë ka qenë ajo e Ministrit të Jashtëm Bushati në vitin 2015.
Lajmi për ardhjen e Ramës krijoi jo pak reagime në radhët e komunitetit shqiptar në Kanada. Burime të sigurta provojnë që një pjesë e të ftuarve nuk konfirmuan pjesëmarrjen në darken me Kryeministrin, mes të cilëve edhe disa mbajtës të titullit “Ambasador i Kombit”, akorduar nga vetë Rama. Po kështu edhe nga radhët e kryetarëve të shoqatave shqiptare apo individualitete të shquara në komunitet.
Më një gjuhë diplomatike, por kuptueshëm refuzuese, iu përgjigjën Ambasadës dhe dy anëtarët e Këshillit Koordinativ të Diasporës Adriana Bejko dhe Ardian Radovicka. Këta të fundit, kërkuan publikisht që në vend të darkës të organizohej një takim i zgjeruar me komunitetin i Kryeministrit, me prezencën e mediave. Një reagim tejet kritik ndaj Ramës ishte dhe prononcimi publik i intelektualit Endrit Mullisi, me origjinë nga Elbasani, i cili për shumë vite ka kryer dhe funksionin e Pastorit të Kishës Ungjillore Shqiptare të Torontos.
(Lista pas anulimit)
Flasshqip u informua gjithashtu që një grup pjestarësh të komunitetit shqiptar në Toronto po përgatisnin një protestë për të cilën kishin njoftuar dhe autoritetet kompetente. Protesta ishte parashikuar të mbahej në datën 5 shtator, para godinës ku do zhvillojë punimet Forumi Ekonomik, ditë në të cilën sipas konfirmimit në programin paraprak do merrte fjalen edhe Kryeministri Rama.
Ndërkohë, një grup prej 17 vetësh, emra të njohur nga e gjithe Kanadaja, i dergoi më 25 gusht një letër Presidentit të International Economic Forum of the Americas, Nicholas Rémillard, në shenjë reagimi për pjesëmarrjen e Edi Ramës në aktivitet. Letra shprehte veçanërisht shqetësimin për situatën e rëndë politike në Shqipëri. Theksojmë që ky është rasti i parë që nga radhët e diasporës shqiptaro-kanadeze reagohet në mënyrë të organizuar ndaj krizës politike shqiptare dhe personalisht ndaj përgjegjësit kryesor për këtë krizë, Kryeministrit Edi Rama.
Më poshtë dhe teksti i plotë bashkë me listen e nënshkruesve:
August 25, 2019
Nicholas Rémillard
President and Chief Executive Officer,
International Economic Forum of the Americas
Ç
Joseph Clark
President, Toronto Global Forum
About the participation of the Prime Minister of Albania to Toronto Global Forum
Nicholas Rémillard
President and Chief Executive Officer,
International Economic Forum of the Americas
Cc
Joseph Clark
President, Toronto Global Forum
About the participation of the Prime Minister of Albania to Toronto Global Forum
Dear Mr. Rémillard,
We are a group of Albanian-Canadian intellectuals and businessmen who have learned with dismay that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has been invited to attend the 13th edition of Toronto Global Forum (Leading the New Economy) hosted by your highly respected organization on September 4-6, 2019.
While your activities contribute to a more just, inclusive and sustainable world, the presence, among world leaders, renowned experts and business executives, of a Prime Minister who has degraded the course of democracy in his country and plunged the country’s economy into corruption and informality, would probably be considered a questionable gesture of encouragement, a misstep that may not pair with the principles and values of your reputable forum.
We would like to draw your attention to recent information that may update the picture you already have about the situation of Albania under Mr. Rama’s government over the past 6 years.
The state of Democracy in Albania
The elections in Albania are free but rigged in a regular basis, since the day Mr. Rama seized the power. The government controls all the big media companies to such a degree that the opposition can’t get a fair hearing. The biggest German Newspaper BILD has been publishing credible evidence how Mr. Rama rigged the elections in Albania and how he and his ministers are allegedly connected and work with the organized crime. In the previous legislature, 19 MP of his caucus were individuals with criminal records. Facing the impossibility to be heard and to be elected in this fraudulent climate, the opposition does not participate in elections anymore and actually is out of the political system. Mr. Rama runs one of the most undemocratic regimes of the post-communist era in Albania – and has undermined and abused democratic institutions and procedures at every turn. Under the pretext of judicial reform, Mr. Rama has destroyed the check and balance system by abolishing the Constitutional and Supreme Courts.
He has appointed a non-consensual General Attorney, violating the articles of the Constitution on this matter. And what is happening now is that the Attorney General, a puppet of Mr. Rama, is destroying all the reasonable evidence collected by her predecessors, evidence that could seriously charge the government and its members. The country is plunged into a serious constitutional and political crisis. With the last municipal elections 99.99% won, the party of Mr. Rama has seized practically all the town halls of the country. Albania became the first country in Europe, since the fall of the wall, where a single party controls the central and local power in the mass of 100%.
Mr. Rama already has absolute power and his party has seized all powers. The President of the Republic is excluded and his decrees ignored. The opposition is too weak, outside the system and divided to pose a major threat in the near future.
Albania is a warning about what could happen when, in the name of stability, Western societies tolerate the seizure of all institutions by a major political party that is thus allowed to govern without control.
The state of Albanian Economy
The economy of Albania is in full collapse. Most people subsist mainly by emigrants’ remittances and informal money entered the country by dubious activities. Organised crime has corrupted every layer of Albanian government. There are no longer any public submissions and bidders in Albania. The major contracts are awarded to the same companies on several occasions. Through a systematic obscure and non-transparent conduct, Mr. Rama is sharing the biggest assets of public economy with a handful of friends and supporters, through the so-called Private-Public-Partnership (PPPs) schemes. Just to bring an example, a brand new company supposedly registered in Delaware in the United States just days before the award of a major contract of 240 million euros (CAN $352 million) is part of these notorious projects. After publications on a private investigative portal, it came out that the certificate of constitution was forged as well as the signature of the Delaware Secretary of State on the Corporation acts.
The economy has been in steady decline during Mr. Rama’s tenure. No new foreign investors in the last six years and the majority of foreign companies operating in Albania before 2013 are now leaving, due to the arbitrary treatment inflicted by the corrupt administration and the total absence of the justice system. Just an example as illustration: The government of Mr. Rama has recently lost an international legal battle of 140 million euros (CAN $205 million) for the benefit of a foreign investor, whose business had been suspended and the assets seized arbitrarily by the government. Corruption has undermined citizens’ trust in public institutions and hurt anyone whose lives, livelihoods or happiness depend on the integrity of people in positions of authority. 500,000 hopeless Albanians have left the country during the last 6 years of the regime of Mr. Rama and there are fears the trend will only worsen.
It is for the above reasons, we believe, that Canadian government has not been extending any invitations to the dignitaries of Albania from 2015 and has not rectified yet the Foreign Investment Protection Agreement even though the negotiations were concluded in 2013.
Being proud Albanian – Canadians residing in this Great Country, we would like to see Albania progress in the road of Democracy.
We thank you for the attention to our concerns and please accept our highest regards!
Signed by:
Mr. Hajro ÇINI M.A. Economics – Toronto
Former Director of Finance Smiths Medical
Mr. Taulant DEDJA M.P.A. – Toronto
Former Prefect of Tirana – Albania
Former Member of Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (Albania)
Editor – Flasshqip.ca Albanian Canadian Online Newspaper
Mr. Bujar LLAPAJ – Vancouver
Independent Professional Musician
Principal Conductor – West Coast Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver
Mrs. Edlira BEGEJA ÇINI – Toronto
Customer Care Manager RBC
Mr. Endrit MULLISI MSc – Toronto
Professional in the non-profit organization management and churches
Mr. Artan Gjyzel HASANI – Toronto
Albanian Canadian Writer
Mr. Mishel KOÇIU – Montréal
Motion Picture Producer & Director
Mrs. Entela KONOMI – Montréal
Artist Painter & Lawyer
Hysni MARKU – Montréal
Membre de l’Ordre des médecins vétérinaires du Québec
Ancien Président Communauté Albanaise du Québec, Montréal
Mr. Besnik REXHVELAJ – London
Mortgage Broker
Chairman – Albanian Canadian Society “Illyria”, London Ontario
Mr. Lejdi AGO – Kitchener
Financial Advisor, Former Chairman Albanian Canadian Association of Regina, Saskatchewan
Mr. Rudolf NOSI – Toronto
Project Manager
Mrs. Bela ALEKSI – Toronto
ESL Teacher
Mrs. Ira KORE – Toronto
Property Manager
Mr. Robert KORE – Toronto
Property Manager
Mr. Afrim KORBI – Toronto
Business owner
Mr. Nick NDREKA – Toronto
Business owner
Mr. Armando MOSHO – Toronto
Financial Advisor
Project Manager
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