Albania set to build a new house of Parliament

Albania set to build a new house of Parliament

The new building will be built on the grounds of the neoclassical structure in the center of Tirana that once housed the Communist Party’s Politburo and where members of parliament now have their offices.

The new structure will save some of the outer walls and the two wings of the old building. On its back courtyard, a new structure of steel and glass will join an oval hall hovering over the façade of the existing one.

“The new hall will be built on top of the existing structure, symbolizing that the people stand above the government,” Jano said during the presentation ceremony.

After nearly fifty years of communist rule that ended in 1991, Albania’s new constitution gives the parliament a central role in the country’s political life.

“This is one of the challenges of my term as speaker” Topalli said. “I hope to be the one that sets the first stone on the new building.”

The leader of the opposition also backed the project. Edi Rama, Tirana’s mayor and the head of the Socialist Party, called on the country’s political class to agree on how to finance the construction.

“I hope all the political forces will concur to turn this project into reality,” Rama said.

The new building will occupy an area larger than 11,000 square meters. An international tender for its construction is expected to be announced in six months.