Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced the launch of a new political initiative dubbed “Loyal Presence”, a nationwide listening process that will take place every Friday at 5 p.m. across Albania.

Rama said the initiative would begin this Friday and continue for as long as he remains leader of Albania’s ruling Socialist Party (PS).

“Starting this Friday, and every other Friday, at 5 p.m., a process of presence across the entire territory will begin — listening to citizens, a process that will not stop as long as I am leader of the Socialist Party,” Rama said.

The prime minister said members of parliament should not use their positions to seek favors from government officials, arguing instead that MPs should focus on citizens’ problems and follow up on their cases with state institutions.

Under the initiative, Rama said, MPs should not call institutional directors to ask for personal favors. Instead, they should listen to citizens, refer their concerns to the relevant institutions and take responsibility for following up on those cases.

“Loyal Presence requires that an MP should not call a director and ask for favors,” Rama said. “It is not about going there to show how much economic incomes have increased, but about what economic growth does not tell us.”

Rama also said the initiative should not become a mechanism for gathering votes, recruiting future party activists or creating a parallel system for citizens to access state services.

“The non-negotiable line is this: the party does not become the state,” Rama said. “It is not an employment counter. The activist is not the citizen’s route to obtaining a right provided by law.”

He argued that political structures should instead serve as a channel through which the state becomes more responsive to citizens.

“Politics must be an antenna for a state that listens, and not a parallel channel for a state that does not function,” Rama said.