Protests against Edi Rama’s government in Albania have continued for more than 100 days, with participants calling for a change in the way the country is governed and for the prime minister’s resignation.
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For more than three months, citizens and opposition supporters have gathered in protests, demanding the resignation of Edi Rama and his government.
Another demand of the protesters is the creation of a technical government which, according to the organizers, would create the conditions for a new political and electoral process.
The protesters are also calling for the repeal of several laws and initiatives they consider harmful to the national interest. These include the law on strategic investments, the law on protected areas and the so-called “Mountain Package.”
Klementin Mile: The protest has shown society that those in power must face demands for transparency and accountability
Albanian publicist Klementin Mile believes the protest has helped strengthen citizens’ demands for transparency and accountability. However, he stresses that the government has not yet taken the protesters’ demands into consideration.
“The value of the protest lies in the fact that it has shown the people that they must raise their voices to demand transparency and accountability from those in power. Even in a democracy, these cannot be considered guaranteed once and for all, since it is necessary for the people to continually demonstrate their strength. In terms of political culture, this is the protest’s contribution. As for the protesters’ demands, the government has not addressed them,” he says.
Speaking to “Bota sot,” Mile says the pressure created by the protest has forced the government to provide more information and reassess its relationship with citizens. Nevertheless, he says, a protest cannot force politicians to implement its demands.
“Under the influence of the protest, the government has been forced to provide more information and reassess its relationship with citizens. In this context, initiatives such as Pasqyra Albania, Besa, Prania Besnike and others can be mentioned. The protest, as a phenomenon, serves as an alarm bell that prompts society to turn its attention to itself and identify its problems.
Nevertheless, a protest does not have the power to force society, politicians or the government to do exactly what the protesters demand. At best, political actors take civic pressure as information and, after processing it politically, meaning pragmatically rather than idealistically, it may lead to structural changes,” Mile says.
Rexhep Shahu: Unclear demands and calls for Rama to go to prison and Berisha to go to prison have weakened the protest
Publicist Rexhep Shahu sees the situation differently. Speaking to “Bota sot,” he says the protest is losing influence as it turns into a routine activity. According to him, the lack of clarity in its demands and the absence of direct pressure on the government are weakening the movement and working in Rama’s favor.
“The protest, which was the only light of hope in Albania, is losing its strength and turning into an everyday occurrence. It is becoming accustomed to its own routine, while people are becoming accustomed to its repetition.
The problem is that wrongdoing in Albania has become commonplace. For more than a decade, people have reconciled themselves to bad governance; they cannot bite the government’s finger, nor do they dare point a finger at it to identify its responsibility for the wrongdoing.
The protest that woke us up and made us believe that something different would happen is also becoming routine. It has turned into a daily demonstration, whereas it should have been an action that forces the government to feel pressure. It should not serve as music for those in power or as democratic window dressing.
The protest’s wording and demands are like cold soup. It did not aim to dismantle, one by one, this government’s criminal laws, cancel contracts or overturn criminal decisions. Instead, it calls for the government and parliament to step down, as well as for the protesters to determine the country’s direction. The demands are: Rama in prison and Berisha in prison.
Anyone who is outside this protest is portrayed as bad. One day the protesters speak out against the government and then go and throw eggs at lawmakers. What can lawmakers do? They are appointed by Rama; it is not the lawmakers who direct Rama, but Rama who orders them around.
All the protest’s forces should have been directed against Rama. Any other direction works in his favor. This is a breath of fresh air for Rama.
Had Kushner not been involved as the son-in-law of U.S. President Trump, the protest would not have received any support from the world’s left-wing media,” Shahu said.
According to Shahu, the protest’s influence has faded because of its unclear demands and the fact that it is not exerting direct pressure on the government.
He says the protest is sliding toward a daily routine and that citizens are becoming accustomed to the situation that has taken hold in the country.
“The unclear demands and ridiculous calls, such as Rama in prison and Berisha in prison, have weakened the protest and diverted it from its mission.
Even if tens of thousands of protesters took part, and even if they were armed with the best weapons, they would not be able to build their own prisons.
Calls against the 30-year-old system remind us of the communist system. This protest cannot change Albania’s system because citizens do not want the dictatorship of communism.
Citizens also reject the dictatorship of Edi Rama’s anarchy, meaning the dictatorship of this government that plunders the state budget, public property and national resources.
The protesters have also weakened their position by declaring that they want to resemble the Serbian protesters, who resisted for a long time.
Despite the good intentions and the social awakening it brought, the protest is dragging along. It has no energy and is being used by various people for self-promotion, without managing to win the public’s trust.
I would like the protest to be hotter and more forceful, but not violent. Nor did I want a festive demonstration in the square.
I do not believe in a protest where women and children hold hands or where children sit in strollers.
I believe in a protest that sets clear and logical conditions for the government and confronts it in the square. I do not believe in repeating a routine for three months, every day, while the government does not even get a thorn in its side.
There is no sign of nervousness among the protesters, and there is no fire in their eyes. They do not stand shoulder to shoulder, but wait for others and wait for the number of participants to reach hundreds of thousands.
I also find the slogans about emigrants ridiculous. Emigrants will not come to overthrow Rama’s government. They have been here.
It seems that the protesters, like most Albanians, are also reconciling themselves to and becoming accustomed to the wrongdoing that has taken over the country,” Shahu further says.
The publicist describes the departure of hundreds of thousands of Albanians as one of the most serious consequences of Edi Rama’s rule.
According to him, the protest in Tirana was initially seen as an opportunity for change, but it is now losing strength and failing to create the necessary pressure on the government.
“In the last 10 years, 760,611 Albanians have left Albania because of poor living conditions, and Europe has legalized them by granting them residence permits in Europe. This is the Albanian tragedy and the national misfortune. No war, no cholera and no Covid would have reduced Albania’s population as much as Edi Rama’s government has reduced it since 2013.
In the national history, no one has stolen from, plundered and depopulated Albania as much as Edi Rama’s government.
In 1945, considered Enver Hoxha’s most murderous and criminal year, he killed and imprisoned 15,000 people. In 2015, Edi Rama imprisoned around 38,000 Albanians, while people who had not paid $30 electricity bills lost their lives in prison.
In short, the protest in Tirana was welcomed as the beginning of the country’s liberation from the domestic and foreign mafia, as well as from criminals, but it is now fading and leaving behind a shadow of sadness.
Edi Rama will not leave power through pleas. This occupier must be removed through civic strength, but it will not be the NGOs associated with him or the sponsors who brought him to power that remove him,” Rexhep Shahu concluded in his statement to “Bota sot.”
