First term (2015–2019) In April 2015, Veliaj was the mayoral candidate of the Socialist Party in the city of Tirana. Veliaj was elected Mayor of Tirana in the June
2015 Albanian local elections with 53.58% of the vote. The candidate representing the oppositional
Democratic Party was Halim Kosova, a well-known gynecologist, serving as a Member of Parliament at the time. Other candidates were
Gjergj Bojaxhi, a former Democratic politician, and Sazan Guri, an environmental activist. Veliaj took office on 31 July 2015.
Urban initiatives A case study by
Innovations for Successful Societies said that after Veliaj was elected in 2015, his administration "worked with private donors and international experts to quickly construct parks, playgrounds, nurseries, schools, and pedestrian spaces" to improve city life. Tirana has chronic
air pollution and heavy traffic, and the role of the car is controversial. In 2015, Tirana organized two
car-free days. Public art projects included an exhibit of Reja (the cloud), from
Sou Fujimoto, in 2016. In January 2017 a renovated
Skanderbeg Square was inaugurated by Veliaj and the Prime Minister. That project won the 2018 European Prize for Urban Public Space. In an urban renewal project, the
Pazari i Ri ("New Bazaar") neighbourhood was rebuilt. In 2021 Veliaj said that Tirana opened 14 new schools in one year, more than any previous year in the city. In July 2017 the Municipality of Tirana voted to raise the water tariff significantly; Veliaj promoted this action by arguing that it would eventually make drinking water available 24 hours a day, and help improve access and quality. The municipality had a
plastic bag reduction initiative in 2017.
Controversial comments A 17-year-old boy died on 7 August 2016 working in very poor conditions in the landfill of
Sharrë, which became controversial because the company that managed the landfill of Sharrë, "3R", was promoted by Veliaj as having good working conditions. The prosecutor attested that Tirana "signed a contract that transferred all the liability to the company 3R, therefore… no evidence implicating the municipality has come up." Two journalists who investigated the situation were fired, possibly due to pressure from the mayor or prime minister. On 27 November 2018, in a televised speech to the City Council, Veliaj reacted to the developing story about a police officer who lost her fingers in clashes with protesters in Tirana, by saying "We are all men here. Would any of us have eyes to marry someone with no fingers?" In April 2019, Veliaj said that half of the construction permits issued in Tirana 2018 were for public works, and a reporter found no evidence to support this. Veliaj also said in April 2019 that he worked with dozens of volunteers to plant 25,000 trees in one day in Tirana, which tree experts said was not a realistic number. In 2022, he said he had planted one million trees in Tirana, but the
World Bank said in 2024 that tree cover had decreased in Tirana.
Second term (2019–2023) Veliaj was elected to a second term as mayor in the June
2019 Albanian local elections.
Construction of new National Theatre (2020) The National Theatre is a remnant of state commissions from the 1930s and 1940s, developed under successive authorities: the Albanian monarchy, the Italian fascist occupation, and later the communist regime. In the late 2010s, the Albanian government sought to renovate the theatre. In 2018, following a design competition, the Albanian government awarded the contract for a new theatre to BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), which pledged to deliver a modernized venue aligned with Tirana's and Albania's contemporary cultural needs. Amidst the
protests against the construction of a new National Theatre building in place of Tirana's old National Theatre, in May 2020, the Albanian government transferred ownership of the land of the National Theatre to the Tirana Municipality through a special law. This law emphasized that the land must be used only for the construction of a new theatre building. The old theatre was demolished on May 17, 2020 by bulldozers with heavy police presence. Veliaj and the Municipal Council were criticized for allowing continued public payments related to the incinerators after
SPAK started investigating corruption. Veliaj and his family denied involvement in any impropriety with respect to the incinerators. In 2026, Veliaj won a defamation lawsuit against Italian citizen Gabriele Tarroni Longinotti, with the Tirana General Jurisdiction Court. The case was filed over Langinotti's specific claim that Veliaj had been involved in the purchase of a failed incinerator, a piece of equipment that an Italian company had acquired from Romania as scrap. During the proceedings, Longinotti admitted he had no direct contact with Veliaj and that he had made some of his public statements with the expectation of financial gain.
5D construction company In 2024, five high-ranking directors in the Municipality were found to have conspired in creating a firm named 5D, to which several public tenders were granted. Other companies were not properly considered during the tender processes, as is required by law. The scandal angered the opposition, which organized protests in front of the Mayor's offices, calling for his arrest. Veliaj denied any involvement.
Pre-trial detention During Veliaj's pre-trial detention in 2025, four deputy mayors took over much of the mayor's duties. On 23 September 2025, Veliaj was discharged by the Tirana Municipal Council, a decision overturned by the Constitutional Court of Albania ruling that the dismissal was unconstitutional, reinstating his as mayor and halting plans for special elections. == Investigation, arrest, and pre-trial detention ==