The Council of Ministers has dismissed Erion Veliaj from his position as Mayor of Tirana. The decision was made today during the government meeting chaired by Prime Minister Edi Rama.

On Monday, the Tirana Municipal Council approved with a majority of votes the Socialist Party’s proposal to remove Veliaj from his post as mayor.

A day earlier, the Prefect of Tirana had officially notified the government of the proposal approved by the Municipal Council. According to the law, it is the government that takes the final decision in this process.

Yesterday, during a meeting with ministers and MPs from the Tirana district, alongside the Socialist Party’s candidate for Mayor of Tirana, Ogerta Manastirliu, Rama described Veliaj’s dismissal as a necessary step.

Rama stated that Tirana cannot wake up and go to sleep as a “headless body” and that citizens cannot coexist with a “decapitated municipality,” adding that the opposition will enter and lose the race for the capital.