Name Erion Veliaj | Role Politician | |
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Profiles | ||
Opinion erion veliaj projekti per tiranen 09 qershor 2015
Erion Veliaj (born in December 17, 1979 in Tirana) is an Albanian politician, who is currently serving as Mayor of Tirana. He is the 42nd elected mayor of Tirana.
Contents
- Opinion erion veliaj projekti per tiranen 09 qershor 2015
- Eni vasili studio e hapur i ftuar erion veliaj 1 shtator 2015
- Early life and education
- MJAFT
- Socialist Party of Albania
- Tirana Mayoral Election 2015
- Mayoral tenure
- Controversies
- References
He was elected Member of the Parliament for the district of Gjirokastra, during the Albanian parliamentary election of 2013. Between September 2013 and April 2015, Veliaj served as Minister of Social Welfare and Youth in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
Eni vasili studio e hapur i ftuar erion veliaj 1 shtator 2015
Early life and education
Erion Veliaj was born on December 17, 1979. After graduating from Sami Frasheri High School in Tirana, he moved to the USA, where he obtained a B.A in Political Sciences at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. He also pursued postgraduate studies in the University of Sussex, receiving a master's degree in European Integration. Prior to his return in Albania, Veliaj worked with several international humanitarian organizations in the Americas, Eastern Africa, and Kosovo.
MJAFT!
In 2003, Veliaj founded the MJAFT! movement, a civic organization that unified activists to raise awareness and to protest for diverse social, educational and political issues in Albania. In 2004, MJAFT! was granted the United Nations Award for civil society by Kofi Annan for its exemplary and highly efficient methods of protest.
Erion Veliaj led the MJAFT! movement until November 2007. In the parliamentary elections of 2009, he was a candidate for the Parliament of Albania, through the civil list of G99.
His MJAFT! organization showed the controversial Muhammad cartoons on its pages.
Socialist Party of Albania
After failing to win any seat in the parliament with his G99 party in 2011, he joined the Socialist Party and became part the Steering Committee of the Socialist Party of Albania, as Secretary for Youth and Emigration.
During the parliamentary elections of 2013, Veliaj was nominated by the Socialist Party as MP candidate for the district of Gjirokastër.
In September 2013, Veliaj was appointed Minister of Social Welfare and Youth.
Tirana Mayoral Election 2015
Veliaj was selected as the Socialist Party-s candidate for the Mayor of Tirana in Aprill 2015, while the oppositional Democratic Party choose Halim Kosova, a known gynecologist, as their candidate. Other candidates were Gjergj Bojaxhiu, a former Democratic politician, and Sazan Guri, an environmental activist. Veliaj won against Kosova with 53.58% against 39.00% of the vote, while Bojaxhiu and Guri took 5.37% and 1.11% respectively.
Mayoral tenure
The issue of urban air pollution is a growing concern in Tirana, and the role of the car can be controversial. In September 2015, Tirana organized its first vehicle-free day. In Januari 2017 the new Skanderbeg Square was inaugurated by Veliaj and the Prime Minister. In July 2017 the Municipality of Tiranë voted to raise the water tariff significantly, Veliaj promoted this action by arguing that it would help improve water access and quaility.
Controversies
The Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN) and the opposition have accused the municipality of Tirana for lack of transparency, particularly for the way it raised fares for bus passengers and budget.
Many actors of the civil society have accused him for favouring the construction oligarchy and that the General Urban Plan of Tirana he supported will destroy what little is left of Tirana's green spaces. His way of handling the protests against the playground in the Tirana Lake Park has also been criticised.
Veliaj and the company 3D are under investigation by the Albanian prosecution for the death of Ardit Gjoklaj at Sharra Landfill.