Democratic Party chairman Lulzim Basha pointed out Premier Edi Rama, Interior Minister Fatmir Xhafaj and former Interior Minister Saimir Tahiri as the three persons that stand between Albanian and the membership negotiations with EU. Basha urged Xhafaj to step down and Rama to stop protecting Tahiri as the only way to allow the country progress towards its European aspiration.

“Rama must either comply with the Albanians’ will or leave the post”, Basha told a press conference. "When only two weeks separate us from the decision for the opening of the negotiations of Albania’s accession to the European family, the messages from Europe are becoming clearer every day. The opening of the negotiations is not a process of publicity or personal lobbying. It is an actual process of acting and behaving like Europeans. Edi Rama’s strategy of creating a fake façade of an Albania where everything is OK has failed. The façade has fallen. The government is naked before the world”.

“The choices we have are clear. If we want Europe, Saimir Tahiri must be where the place of traffickers and officials linked to them is. If we want Europe, Fatmir Xhafaj must leave (the post). If we want Europe, we need to do an electoral reform and stop buying votes and the manipulation of elections for good. Rama, Tahiri and Xhafaj are today the main obstacles in Albania’s way to EU integration. The Albanians want the opening of the negotiations. That’s why Fatmir Xhafaj’s resignation and ending Rama’s protection of Tahiri are of utmost importance. Edi Rama must obey to the people’s will or leave”.