Prime Minister Edi Rama relaunched his social media podcast “Flasim” (“Let’s Talk”) on Sunday, featuring Ogerta Manastirliu, the Socialist Party’s candidate for Mayor of Tirana.

Rama began the discussion by emphasizing that the dismissal of Erion Veliaj was a necessity for Tirana, but that his imprisonment came as the result of a questionable judicial process.

“On November 9, the citizens of Tirana and several other municipalities will vote for their mayors. The other elections are completely normal, while in Tirana they are extraordinary — not because Tirana is the capital, but because the city was left without a mayor due to a brutal development in the justice system.

Veliaj was taken from his office without a trial and sent to pretrial detention, where he has been held for months amid a process that, to put it mildly, has questionable standards.

Those who question the President’s legitimacy are not to blame; they simply lack the constitutional knowledge of Ilir Rusmali — the presidential adviser, a former Minister of Justice from the Democratic Party, who resigned and refused to become part of the corruption that degenerated to the point where a macabre tragedy horrified Albania and shocked the world — Gërdec,” Rama said.