Mayor Erion Veliaj has withdrawn the delegation of powers to Anuela Ristan to lead the Municipality of Tirana, considering it an obstacle to the work and stating that she has challenged his authority. This is the second time that Veliaj has dismissed Anuela Ristan, after a decision in March 2025, when he dismissed her but withdrew from his firm after pressure from Edi Rami.
Arguments for removing delegation
In support of Article 8, point 2 and Article 64 of Law No. 139/2015 “On Local Self-Government”, as amended, as well as Article 113 of Law No. 44/2015 “Code of Administrative Procedures of the Republic of Albania”;
taking into account that order no. 366 (no. 7461 prot.), dated 14.02.2025, “On the temporary delegation of the duties of the Mayor of Tirana”, was issued as an organizational instrument of a temporary nature, with the aim of guaranteeing the continuity of the functioning of the administration and services of the Municipality of Tirana under the conditions created at that time;
Considering that the mandate of the elected Mayor of Tirana has legally continued and has been recognized as such in two decisions of the Constitutional Court, while the most recent decision of this Court has eliminated any uncertainty regarding the continuity and constitutional protection of this mandate, as well as the authority emanating from it;
Considering that the latest decision of the Constitutional Court constitutes a new and defining circumstance for institutional relations within the Municipality of Tirana, which requires that the exercise of any delegated competence be carried out in accordance with and in full coordination with the authority of the elected Mayor, whose mandate has been definitively confirmed in the constitutional plan;
Considering that, precisely because of its temporary and derivative nature, the delegation of powers can only continue as long as it serves the purpose for which it was granted and is exercised in respect of the constitutional and legal authority of the delegating body, without becoming an autonomous source of power separate from it;
noting that, in the subsequent period and especially after the recent decision of the Constitutional Court, a progressive disconnection has been evidenced in the exercise of the powers delegated by the constitutional and legal authority of the elected Mayor, materialized in the lack of information and institutional coordination, in the non-implementation of judicial decisions, in the non-implementation and rejection of the Mayor's direct orders, as well as in actions and inactions that have violated the normal chain of responsibility and institutional direction of the Municipality;
noting that this situation has culminated in the rejection of the elected President's authority to exercise the powers that the Constitution and the law directly recognize, creating an institutional situation in which delegation, instead of achieving its initial purpose of guaranteeing administrative continuity, has become an obstacle to the effective exercise of the delegating body's mandate;
Considering that these circumstances, taken together and in particular the recent developments mentioned above, constitute a fundamental change in the institutional conditions in which the delegation was granted and make its continuation incompatible with the need for a clear chain of responsibility, the normal functioning of the administration and the effective exercise of the mandate of the elected President;
with the aim of guaranteeing the legality, continuity, stability and normal functioning of the Municipality of Tirana, the uninterrupted provision of public services and the protection of the interests of the citizens of Tirana.
