Rama: there is no evidence I used power to gain money or property. Every gift to me is registered as state property

Prime Minister Edi Rama categorically denied accusations of illegal enrichment through power, saying there is no evidence he used the offices he held to obtain money or property. Speaking about accusations raised against him by the opposition and protesters, Rama said no one can prove he benefited even a small sum of money in exchange for a signature during his time leading the Municipality of Tirana or the government.

“There is not a single piece of evidence that such a penny is in my pocket or in our family’s income, and a single signature of mine as mayor or prime minister, they will never produce it, because that kind of phenomenon has not happened. I have my mistakes, I am no angel or infallible, but I have never traded power for money or property; I used power to revive Tirana and then Albania. Whoever has benefited from fair investment opportunities, also thanks to my signature, knows well what I am talking about when I say my power was never used to give dark favors or to receive illegal gifts,” Rama said.

Rama also addressed accusations about a gift watch allegedly linked to organized crime, calling them baseless. Rama said the gifts he received in office as prime minister are registered and, according to him, treated as property of the Albanian state. “To those suited parliamentarians or crow-beaks who have said that I supposedly received a gift watch from organized crime, the prime minister has a museum precisely from the gifts the prime minister receives, given to me by partners and friends of our country. I have all gifts registered to the prime minister as property of the Albanian state, unlike my predecessor who devoured them at his home,” Rama said.