Journalist Lirim Mehmetaj, in an interview on T7's FRONTAL show on Monday, said that the Minister of Agriculture, Armend Muja, after becoming a minister, also made his wife a director at the Ministry of Trade, writes Gazeta Express.
"Only today, the public, Armend Muja, who became a minister, has made the wife of a director in the Ministry," Mehmetaj declared on T7.
The Minister of Agriculture, Armend Muja, has sent his reaction to Gazeta Expres and T7, saying that journalist Mehmetaj's statements are old and untrue allegations.
Muja, in response, said that his wife has been working in the civil service since 2014, and that there were statements and reports about her employment even in 2020, when she was not part of politics.
"Yesterday, an old, untrue claim was repeated: that "Armend Muja has made his wife the director". This is slander. The facts are simple and verifiable: my wife has been in civil service since 2014, through the European Union program "Young Cell Scheme", long before any of my political engagements. She has been the Division Director since 2018 and only in certain cases, according to the law, has she temporarily exercised the duty of Acting Director of the Department when the position was vacant. There was no intervention on my part", Muja wrote in reaction.
"The narrative related to 'political momentum' or 'increasing living standards' has no factual basis - it is a deliberate attempt to create a false perception and tarnish my reputation through my family. These accusations are not new. They were raised in 2020, when I was not part of politics. Today they are being recycled with the same purpose: disinformation. I understand the public interest in officials, but it does not justify defamation and violation of minimum journalistic standards. I invite anyone who has doubts to verify this issue - the truth is the same and clear," Muja continued.
He has said he does not interfere with his wife's career, warning of legal action if the allegations continue.
"As a matter of principle, I do not interfere in my wife's career and I have not allowed her to benefit from my public position. Defamation has consequences. If these allegations continue, I will take all necessary legal action," Muja concluded.
In 2020, the ministry, in response to the progress report at that time, had appointed the Head of the European Integration Division in the Department of European Integration and Policy Coordination.
The ministry had clarified that Arjeta Muja had not been promoted to the position, but had only taken on the role of acting director until further notice.
"She was appointed Acting Director of the Department for European Integration and Policy Coordination (where she is the head of the Division) the day before yesterday and that this is not an advancement in position, but is only the exercise of the director's duties until another decision."
"The employee in question was appointed to the position of Acting Director because the director of this department was appointed Acting Secretary General," the Ministry's response in 2020 stated.
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