The General Director of the Albanian Secret Service (SHISH) Mr. Visho Ajazi gave his resignation after serving in the position since 2012. No reasons were given for his resignation considering the country is facing an intense political period due to the Tahiri/Rama scandal. The appointment of a new General Director is a competence of the Executive branch after approval from the President.

The week before Ajazi’s resignation, PM Rama and current Minister of Interior Xhafaj made strong accusations against the Prosecutor office as of the request to lift Tahiri’s political immunity.

DP Chairman, Lulzim Basha, after recognizing that Ajazi’s resignation may be due to the pressure exerted upon him by PM Rama, declared that “a service that reports on police involvement in drug cultivation and drug trafficking, as SHIK has been doing for two years, is a needle in the eyes of the narcotics state of Edi Rama. There can be no other conclusion that his resignation came out of political pressures. This shows that the narcotic state is in total panic and is doing everything to close the Tahiri’s affair.”

Basha reaffirmed his confidence on “Albania’s Western partners [who] will be in the side of Albania in this vital fight against mafia and organized crime. They won’t allow Albania, a country in the heart of Europe, to become a narcotics-state, a rogue state run and ruled by gangs with direct political ties with the Prime Minister and other corrupted politicians.”