Berisha before the National Council: The DP will continue its unconditional support for the protest; Rama must resign

The Democratic Party convened the National Council on Thursday afternoon. During his speech, DP Chairman Sali Berisha declared that the opposition would continue to support unconditionally the protest that has been taking place in the country for around three months, describing it as “heroic and extraordinary.”

Berisha said the protest deserved great recognition for its courage, persistence and broad participation, adding that, in his view, it had performed an extraordinarily valuable service to the nation. He claimed that, as a result, Edi Rama is now the most hated man in Albania, the Balkans and perhaps all of Europe.

According to the DP leader, the prime minister is now the most stigmatized and discredited politician on the international stage. Berisha declared that Rama was facing an irreversible spiral and that he could not be saved by “Dielli,” “besë besëpreri,” satellites or mirrors, because, for the first time, he said, Rama was polling below “his party of crime.”

The Democratic Party chairman explained that DP members, supporters, MPs and leaders had taken part and would continue to take part in rallies, but without using party symbols or assuming a political leadership role.

“As the largest opposition party, we have committed ourselves to providing full support, in various forms, for this protest,” Berisha declared.

He described Edi Rama’s political situation as deteriorating and said the protest had pushed the prime minister into an “overdose of despair.” Berisha accused him of adopting different positions and making various statements about the protesters in recent weeks.

Berisha also referred to the latest polls, claiming that they showed a sharp decline in support for the prime minister. “The polls have now put Edi Rama at 29 points and in freefall. Statistically, this means that Edi Rama is finished,” he said.

The DP leader called for Edi Rama’s resignation, which he described as “the least damaging scenario” for the prime minister under the circumstances.

Berisha declared that after such a summer, anyone in Rama’s position would have chosen to leave office. He accused the prime minister of stealing from citizens “at night, during the day, awake and asleep” during his 13 years of absolute power, saying that he had become neither a leader nor a man. According to him, despite the people having been in the square for three months, Rama has neither resigned nor dared to consider such a step.

He said the opposition must do everything to force Edi Rama to leave, identifying unconditional support for the youth and civic protest as its primary duty. Berisha added that, after 90 days, the efforts of opponents who, in his view, sought to claim credit for the protest and portray themselves as the ones pulling the cart had failed.

According to Berisha, these individuals acted as tools of Edi Rama and used slogans against the DP to keep Democrats away from the protest. “But they were wrong—very wrong. The DP and the protest are connected like the eye and light,” the Democratic Party chairman said.

Berisha declared that Democrats had organized more than 420 protests against the Rama government over the past four years. He accused the majority of corruption, misgovernance, the political use of justice and ties to organized crime.

He added that the DP had exposed, in hundreds of criminal case files, what he called “the government’s links to crime and drugs.” In his speech, Berisha also mentioned international resolutions and fact-finding missions that had come to Albania.