For more than a month, Albanian citizens have been protesting, demanding the removal from office of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
In a statement to “Bota sot,” Professor Enver Bytyçi said that since these protests began, Rama has responded to the protesters with insults and labels, while according to him their demands are tied to the prime minister’s resignation, the creation of a transitional government, and the holding of early elections.
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“From the first day until today, the Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, has been busy with labels and insults against the 31-day protest of Albanian youth and citizens against him. The protesters are demanding the prime minister’s resignation. They want a technical or one-year transitional government, so that early elections can be prepared. The causes of the protest are many. Above all, it is Edi Rama’s failed governance and stopping efforts to alter the property and territory of Albania.
This protest was ignited by the Gërdec case. Rama initially offered dialogue. But the protesters demanded his resignation and he gave up on dialogue. At first he thought he was dealing with a protest that he could manipulate, as he did with the student protest and almost all the other protests that have taken place in Albania. Under these conditions, Rama began individual and collective attacks with insults, slander, accusations, and fabrications about espionage, people with criminal records, etc.”, he said.
Bytyçi further stated that the prime minister is under strong pressure because of the protests and is trying not to lose the support of Western partners.
He also added that Rama is facing criticism in the international arena as well.
“According to various sources, he is stressed because he is unable to control the powerful movement against him and is not managing to manipulate it. Today, at a forum in Germany, he said that ‘A government that stops listening stops governing’! I am sure this statement was a glove thrown out to calm European partners, specifically the Germans. To tell them that ‘I am not a dictator,’ that ‘I am ready for dialogue,’ that ‘I am capable of finding common language with the protesters,’ etc. That is to say, Rama appears to have an insurmountable problem with the Western factor. Donald Trummp’s administration, according to the news agency ‘ROJTER,’ is considering the possibility of canceling the NATO summit in Tirana, planned to be held next year in 2027. Europeans come and speak against Edi Rama at protest rallies in Tirana. Last Monday there were 5 MEPs, who took the floor and condemned Edi Rama’s governance,” he said.
According to Bytyçi, the protests are also centered on the demand to repeal several laws, as well as Rama’s removal, while the dissatisfaction, according to him, is also linked to the issues of Sazan and Zvërnec.
He also mentioned Rama’s ties to Soros.
“The essence is the repeal of four laws that Edi Rama pushed through parliament on his orders as head of the majority, namely the law on strategic investors, on protected areas, on cultural heritage areas, and the Mountain Package. But also resignation and new elections. Sazan and Zvërnec became the spark for the emergence of dissatisfaction and the beginning of the protests. Sazan has been given to the son-in-law of President Donald Trump, namely Jarad Kushner. The same with Zvërnec. According to the data presented at the protest, it was Edi Rama who volunteered himself to give the island and Zvërnec to members of the Trump family, hoping that by connecting with them he would secure the support of the White House.
But unfortunately for Rama, this is not working. Because Edi Rama is the chief godfather of George Soros Senior and his son, Aleks, who are seen by Trump as his main opponents. Even for the American Senate and Congress midterm elections to be held in November, Soros has allocated more than 100 million American dollars to help Donald Trump’s opponents. Rama’s friend is fighting against Trump, while Rama himself is selling pieces of Albania to befriend the American president. This game is dangerous not only for Albania. It is also dangerous for President Trump himself, because the sale of Albanian territory to his son-in-law is turning into an effective weapon against Mr. Trump’s Republican Party and he may lose in the next midterm elections,” he added.
In the end, Bytyçi stressed that Rama is under pressure from both the protests and the international community.
According to him, the prime minister is simultaneously facing risks related to contracts with criminal groups, while he described the situation as dangerous both for him and for the country.
“Edi Rama is between two fires. The fire of the protesters, who are determined in their demand for his resignation. And the fire of European anger because of the sale of Sazan Island, which they see in the future as a possibility for a powerful anti-European military base to be built there. Which of these fires will engulf him in flames remains to be seen. I believe both of these fires will. However, there is also a third fire, which seriously threatens the physical existence of the prime minister of Albania. These are the contracts he has made with drug cartels from Colombia and Mexico to Europe, the Balkans, and Albania. If these contracts are not fulfilled by him, they will cost him his head. If he resigns, it means the drug cartels will punish him for betraying them. Therefore Prime Minister Rama has chosen to betray the interests of Albania!”, Bytyçi concluded for “Bota sot”.
