The highest-ranking female Albanian state official arrested so far, Mirlinda Karçanaj, has been one of the most powerful figures in power for years, precisely because she was invisible. In a government filled with loud voices, public appearances and political protagonism, in other words with propaganda, she chose, or was asked to, a low profile. No interviews, no debates, no exposure. A power that functioned in silence. But this too, as it turns out today, was a sponsored power.
Before appearing in front of SPAK's door and with the exception of a single press conference alongside the prime minister, Karçanaj was an unknown name to the general public. But not to the system. Not to those who went through the tender filters. Not to those who faced the digital infrastructure of the Albanian state.
Her name is associated with almost all the major crises of digital administration in recent years: the theft of citizens' personal data and its use for electoral purposes, the collapse of state systems after cyberattacks, the leakage of salaries of hundreds of thousands of employees, and the profound weakening of information security at the national level. A series of scandals that would have brought down any other leader, but not her.
The question that has been circulating for years is simple and disturbing: how did Mirlinda Karçanaj manage to survive for so long in a system that usually quickly consumes its figures? Simple answers, family proximity, ties of interest, tenders, are not enough.
Her connection to the center of power is much earlier and is directly linked to Edi Rama. She starts in the Municipality of Tirana, in the years when Rama was not just building an administration, but a close circle of trust. At that time, Karçanaj was not just the director of Information Technology. She was part of a small circle of people who had direct access to the mayor even in the most tense moments. A figure who entered without knocking and spoke when others were silent.
When Rama lost the mayorship, she left with him. When Rama returned to power, she was among the first to return to the administration. Loyalty was rewarded.
A key moment in its absolute rise was 2017, when the National Agency for the Information Society passed under the direct control of the prime minister. With this move, all IT tenders of the Albanian state were concentrated in a single hand. In the name of the fight against petty corruption, an infrastructure of grand corruption was built, which collected millions and which, as the SPAK file proves, was abused with millions.
AKSHI, under Karçanaj's leadership, became the single gateway for every government digital investment. From equipment purchases to national systems, everything went through there. A multimillion-dollar garden where hundreds of millions of euros circulated, far from public attention, but not far from vested interests, where thefts were cooked up and mafia-style hostage-takings took shape.
The SPAK file, which led to Karçanaj's house arrest for violating equality in tenders and participating in a structured criminal group, reveals a clear mechanism: predetermined tenders, criteria built according to the winners, inflated funds and pressure on those who opposed. The wiretaps mention figures that are doubled, roles that are divided and a logic of organized robbery that could not function without political guarantees.
At this point, the opposition narrative also enters the scene. After the December 22 rally, Sali Berisha described Karçanaj simply as a victim of Edi Rama. A figure quickly introduced into the political conflict, without stopping to consider the real role she had in the architecture of power. Even the opposition, in its public appearances, has often chosen to focus on the "baxhanaku" or Ergys Agasi, while the name of Mirlinda Karçanaj has been mentioned sparingly, as a name that should not be exaggerated.
Here is also the answer to another question: why did Mirlinda Karçanaj never enter politics, unlike many other ambitious women in the prime ministerial court? The answer is simple. In such an architecture, entering politics would be a risk, not an advancement. It would bring light where darkness was needed, responsibility where immunity was needed, and questions where everything should have passed as a technical procedure. Therefore, the low profile was not a personal choice, but a functional condition of the scheme.
This also explains why, when the scandal broke, the narratives were carefully separated. The opposition spoke loudly about names that embody a direct connection to the dark world, while sparingly mentioning the figure who managed the gateway to millions. Because in such schemes, the middleman is seen, the manager is protected.
In this scheme, Mirlinda Karçanaj was not simply a director who signed. She was the node where money, systems, and political guarantees came together.
That's why Mirlinda Karçanaj had no reason to enter politics. She was part of a power that does not vote, does not debate and is not measured by elections, but functions behind the scenes through trust, money and political protection. A power that does not fall at the ballot box, but only when justice manages to touch the threads that hold it together.
