The targeted campaign against Belinda Balluku continues stronger than ever on Top Channel. The largest screen in the country, which once served as a promoter of the deputy prime minister by showing her in tears in the Llogora tunnel, has now turned her into a target.
On Monday evening, on the show Fiks Fare, from which veteran presenter Filip Çakulli was absent, a new "investigation" was seen against what they called "Bela" until yesterday. The main topic: Balluku is "de facto" leading the ministry from which he was dismissed .
The show's journalists had trapped former Balluk colleagues on hidden cameras, who were giving this message in unison. At the State Technical and Industrial Inspectorate, director Sokol Zajmi says without knowing he is being recorded: "If you are the boss's friend, you are mine too." Then he uses another expression: "Soldiers are easily replaced, but the queen cannot be replaced."
At the National Authority for Safety and Emergencies in Mines, director Rrapush Tola speaks with conviction that Belinda Balluku has placed Enea Karakaçi at the head of the ministry and that a signal from her is enough to make a decision. On the other hand, Flori Serjani , Belinda Balluku's former advisor, indicates that he continues to hold this position next to the new minister while also doing Belinda Balluku's PR.
Up to this point, everything may seem normal, even a commendable piece of journalistic work, showing how a dismissed minister continues to actually run an institution even though she has been banned from doing so by court order.
But the matter begins to get complicated when Monday's show is seen against the backdrop of a feverish two-three-week campaign that resembles targeting against the person. Almost daily, Top Channel news has published chronicles about the swimming pool of Balluk's secret house in Palasë, about Milot Balldren's salty bill, about the EU's concern about not lifting her immunity, and there has even been no shortage of strong editorial positions that raise the question: Why is SPAK delaying with Balluk?
This tendency is so strong that the news gives a place to a politician who rarely appears on Top Channel, Gaz Bardhi, known for his strong stances against his former rival in the Fier district.
The same editorial line is clearly visible in the Top Story show, where opinion leaders with prominent positions against the former deputy prime minister are invited, and care is even taken to produce news stories that are published centrally on the television's online page.
But who is behind this campaign against Bela, born out of nowhere, and which has not constituted a coherent line of Top Channel since the moment her immunity and suspension were requested?
The interested party, who has been careful to appear as little as possible in public these days, when confronted with the Fiksi journalist, called her a "fine-bearer" and the television she represented a "fine-bearer" screen. In fact, she repeated almost the same thing that Edi Rama had done four years ago, after Top Channel began a week-long campaign of criticism, even declaring that "Albania was sliding into autocracy." Topi quickly stopped the momentum, making the prime minister's accusation more credible.
Balluku now also believes that the attack is coming from rival groups within the SP. Two independent sources, who are connected to him, confirmed to Lapsi.al that they believe that the attacks are being sponsored by Ergys Agasi's clan. Even in peripheral media close to Balluku, headlines have been published, unsupported by facts, that Ergys Agasi has bought an expensive car from Grida Duma.
But no matter how dubious this allegation seems, a question would still arise: if this were really the case, doesn't Edi Rama, who controls all the media with an iron fist, have the power to stop this fratricidal war among his people?
This dilemma leads to another question: Or is Rama himself hiding behind the attacks on Belinda? Or has he decided to wash his hands of her?
In the past, many collaborators of the head of government have been shot by Topi's gun: Arben Ahmetaj, Fatmir Xhafaj, Ditmir Bushati. Ahmetaj himself would later say that he was a witness to the way the chief orchestrated attacks on former colleagues. Is the same thing happening again? It is still too early to say. But one thing seems certain: Topi's campaign against what he labeled as the media of fines will continue.
LAPSI.AL
