Socialist Party lawmaker Erion Braçe has defended his controversial vote on new territorial reform, insisting that his decision was based on personal conviction and rejecting allegations that he acted under outside influence.

In a lengthy public statement, Braçe argued that the proposed legislation on Albania’s administrative and territorial division does not constitute a genuine reform. He denied betraying either the Socialist Party or the citizens who have elected him over the years, stressing that his vote was an independent political choice.

Braçe also directly challenged Prime Minister Edi Rama over remarks suggesting that “dirty hands” may have influenced his decision. The lawmaker called on Rama to clarify whom he was referring to, rejecting attempts to associate his position with other individuals or outside interests.

He further urged the prime minister not to speak on his behalf, adding that, as Rama himself has acknowledged, he did not vote in support of the prime minister’s position. Braçe said the matter should end there.

Beyond the dispute over the legislation, the lawmaker criticized what he described as an increasingly rigid exercise of authority within the Socialist Party. He argued that it was unacceptable for a member of parliament to be told that his position was legitimate, only to see it overridden through parliamentary group discipline.

Braçe described the approach of “vote as instructed or leave the group” as an anti-democratic distortion of internal party processes.

Despite the pressure and criticism he says he has faced, Braçe said he chose to remain within the Socialist parliamentary group and continue his work as a lawmaker. He emphasized that his parliamentary mandate comes from the citizens who elected him, creating a moral obligation to represent their interests.

The dispute highlights tensions within Albania’s governing Socialist Party over the territorial reform debate and the balance between party discipline and individual parliamentary judgment.