Edi Rama's Doubt/ Vlora both thanks Hyseni and "exonerates" the government from its sins

The SPAK arrest of the head of the SHISH has put Prime Minister Rama in a bind to the point that he has been silent for more than seven hours since the news about Vlora Hyseni was made public. 
The head of government himself has justified himself with the change of schedules between Tirana and New York, where he is currently at the annual UN summit. 
But even if we accept the news that Rama was not informed in advance, which can hardly happen with a prime minister whose only title is the head of the key national security organ, in the best case, for an emergency like this, the prime minister's staff wakes him up from his sleep. So the change of schedules is probably just a weak alibi.

So what made Rama hesitate?

Better than anything else, this is understood by the double language he used when he decided to speak. This typical way of expression, which he uses whenever he finds himself in trouble, both elevates the head of the SHISH and notes that her responsibilities are personal. Rama's belated statement expresses gratitude and "respect for the work and person of Vlora Hyseni", does not forget to say the phrase that "I am grateful to Vlora Hyseni for everything she has done right in the service of Albania", and finally, not at all innocently emphasizes "the continuous assessments that she has received from partner agencies as the head of the Albanian intelligence service".

But beyond these brushes in the statement, besides the chair, the stick also stands out. Rama announces that he will dismiss her and immediately find a replacement as soon as he returns to his homeland. He also takes care to emphasize that she will not be taken to the defense because if there are responsibilities, they are personal. 

It is precisely within this ambiguity that one understands why Rama was so reluctant to react. On the one hand, he is worried that he cannot be identified in public with someone who has leaked state secrets and helped criminal figures. But on the other hand, he is aware that the position that Hyseni has held makes him have in his hands many secrets about Rama's power. Therefore, she should also be ignored.

On the other hand, Rama is doing everything possible to wash the last ball in the mud from the stained face of this government. He knows that Vlora Hyseni fell into the bed of Ergys Agas's gang, that there are videos and messages about her, that she fed the criminal gang with info. He also knows the story of why she was fired from the Kosovo intelligence service and how Prime Minister Kurti warned her not to peddle state secrets. But despite this, in 2022 Rama put her at the head of SHISH. Everyone now knows what she served there for.

But it is precisely this general impression that the prime minister has to fight. His keynote is: What happened today does not tarnish this governing majority. To be convincing in this impossible mission, he has used three overused tricks.

First, by equating himself with Albania, he tried to argue that this event "cannot be mud against Albania, which is doing many things on its path to joining Europe that cannot even be imagined."

Secondly, trying to vent the surprise and noise of such a discovery that "grinds human flesh in the political and media assembly" and to call for the "rope" as in medieval execution squares, long before the court has its say.

And thirdly, repeating that ultimately it is the socialist majority that has created these spaces for justice.

But despite these pirouettes, the arrest warrant for the head of the service, after two of her deputies have been accused of being thieves, after the mayor of the largest municipality in the country and several ministers have been implicated, especially since Vlora Hyseni is being accused of putting their institutions at the service of criminal gangs, together with the former director general of the Police, badly tarnishes this autocratic power. Therefore, the excuse that these are not indictments for the government that Rama took over seven hours to pronounce seems more ridiculous than ever.  

LAPSI.AL