DP sends formal information request to the Prime Minister and the President over the SHISH affair

The Democratic Party sent a formal request for information on Tuesday to Prime Minister Edi Rama and President Bajram Begaj regarding the procedures used to propose and decree the former head of SHISH, Vlora Hyseni.

The request was submitted by the deputy chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs and Defense, Klevis Balliu, who described the current situation as a grave breach of national security.

Full statement:

As a result of the alarming situation in which the country finds itself, at a moment when national security has been severely compromised, serious questions arise about how the country’s most important security institutions have been managed.

According to data and facts that have become public, important security institutions have been under the influence of Ergys Agasi. The State Police, headed by Ilir Proda; AKSHI, whose director was Mirlinda Karçanaj; the cybersecurity structures, where the husband of director Ervina Gjana was Agasi’s associate; as well as SHISH, where it has become public that the head of the intelligence service was serving Agasi and the gangs he coordinated in the government’s interest.

If the leaders of key national security institutions answer to a person who holds no state function, the fundamental question is: who has the power and authority to decide over these institutions?

Only the Prime Minister has institutional authority over a considerable part of this executive chain. For this reason, any attempt to portray Edi Rama as unaware of the activity or relationships of people who had access to and influence over the country’s most important security institutions is insufficient and untrustworthy.

There is no serious person who could take seriously the claim that Edi Rama knows nothing.

Today, in my capacity as deputy chairman of the Committee on Internal Affairs and Defense, and as an MP holding a security certificate, I have sent the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister a formal request for information on the criteria and procedures used by Edi Rama to propose Vlora Hyseni, as well as on the criteria and procedure followed by the President of the Republic in approving this proposal.

Under the conditions of this emergency, and given the importance of this matter for national security, I expect an urgent, complete and transparent response from the relevant institutions.

This is not a personal or party matter. It is a matter directly linked to national security and the functioning of state institutions.

Institutions must provide answers.