Tirana November 3,2025 The Constitutional Court has ruled in favor of Erion Veliaj, annulling the government’s decision to dismiss him from office and invalidating President Bajram Begaj’s decree for early elections in Tirana. With a 5–3 vote, the Court decided that Veliaj who has been in pre-trial detention for nine months under corruption and abuse of office charges formally remains the elected mayor of the Albanian capital.
The ruling effectively halts preparations for the November 9 snap elections and marks a dramatic institutional reversal for both the government and the presidency.
The decision followed a seven-hour marathon session during which Veliaj personally appeared before the Court under escort, accusing the government of applying “double standards” against mayors under investigation. He argued that while the mayor of Rrogozhina, already convicted and sentenced to one year in prison, continues to perform his duties, he himself has been suspended despite having no final verdict.
“We have a double standard,” Veliaj said during the hearing. “It seems it is better to commit a crime and remain in office than to be innocent and lose your mandate while waiting for justice. I am detained without a final decision, and yet removed from office that is absurd.”
Veliaj went further, delivering one of his most politically charged speeches to date, comparing his arrest to the kidnapping of a mayor in Colombia by FARC guerrillas, saying that in both cases, an elected official was unlawfully deprived of his freedom. He accused the government and parts of the justice system of acting under political pressure and declared that “democracy in Albania is being tested.”
Veliaj also claimed that the government acted in violation of due process, stating that he was never invited to the Cabinet meeting that formalized his dismissal. “Would anything have changed if I had been called? I believe so. If I had the chance to explain that the prosecutor investigating me has a conflict of interest, perhaps they would have hesitated,” he told the judges.
He further alleged that mayors across Albania are under constant pressure from prosecutors to hire relatives of officials or risk being targeted through legal actions. “All mayors are under continuous pressure from SPAK prosecutors to employ their relatives. When this is not done, threats come through lawyers,” Veliaj claimed.
Veliaj’s lawyer also questioned the legitimacy of the dismissal procedure, asking for documentation proving that the mayor had indeed been absent from duty for over three months the legal basis used by the government for his removal.
On the political front, the first to react publicly to the Court’s decision was opposition leader Sali Berisha, who said that “the judges have applied the law,” but described the outcome as a political “gift from Edi Rama to Veliaj.”
“With this, Rama gave Veliaj a de facto advantage. There is no moral here . Begaj and Edi Rama are both defeated by this ruling,” Berisha told reporters.
The case has been at the center of a months-long institutional clash between the government, the president, and the judiciary. The Council of Ministers had justified Veliaj’s dismissal under Article 62 of the Law on Local Governance, citing “absence from duty for more than three months.” President Begaj then issued a decree calling early elections in Tirana.
Veliaj appealed both decisions to the Constitutional Court, which suspended the decree and has now ruled in his favor.
For now, it remains to be seen what will follow. Certainly, there will be no new elections forthe mayor of Tirana as long as Veliaj continues to hold the post legally. Attention now turns to who Veliaj still in detention will appoint as acting mayor, and whether this decision could trigger a new clash with Prime Minister Edi Rama, who had publicly backed his dismissal.
Despite being behind bars, Erion Veliaj remains by law the mayor of Tirana.
The post Constitutional Court Overturns Dismissal: Veliaj Formally Reinstated as Tirana Mayor appeared first on Tirana Times.
