DW analysis: What is keeping the protest alive in Albania?

More than 20 days of resistance have turned the “Flamingo Revolution” into one of the largest civic movements since the fall of the communist system in Albania. Grievances carried for years are now being voiced publicly, while refusing to be represented by traditional politics.

Three weeks of resistance

The endurance of the protest cannot be explained only by the events of recent weeks. For academic Artan Fuga, it is the product of discontent that has been building for years outside institutions and traditional politics.

“The protest is read as a sudden outburst of anger only by those who have chosen to ignore what has been expressed for years on social media,” he told Deutsche Welle, adding that “in the last 5–6 years, the dissatisfaction expressed on social media has been extraordinary.”

According to Fuga, criticism of government policies, the prime minister and the opposition has steadily grown stronger. At its core, he argues, the conviction has taken hold that “the ruling majority and the opposition are the same thing, part of a common establishment” that has continued to dominate Albanian political life for decades.

Enough with the old political class

According to political scientist Blendi Kajsiu, causes and ideas that are often found on opposite sides of the political spectrum are coexisting in the square. In his view, what unites the protesters is no longer ideology, but the rejection of the political model.

“We are witnessing a deep crisis of the Albanian democratic model,” Kajsiu argues to Deutsche Welle. The protesters are not opposing only the government, but a system that has privatized power and political representation. “No one agrees with the model of private democracy that Rama and Berisha have built,” he says, adding that the protest’s main narrative is “enough with the old political class.”

Academic Artan Fuga says that what Western sociology has explained for decades has happened in Albanian society: “if political rotation does not refresh the political elites, one day those elites will face revolt and pressure from the streets.” According to him, part of public opinion came to the conclusion that political change had become almost impossible, with the majority relying on a system that favors the ruling party and the opposition embroiled in internal crises, without a convincing alternative.

Zvërnec, symbol of the political model

Images of a protester being dragged across the sand in Zvërnec by private security employees, in front of phone cameras and in the presence of state police, spread quickly on social media. The revolt erupted.

For academic Artan Fuga, that scene explains why a protest to protect nature turned into something much bigger.

“It was a shocking, chilling element for Albanian public opinion,” he says. “The event highlighted the relationship between the citizen and the state, the individual and his rights, and the clash between private interest and public right.” These, according to him, are fundamental issues in Albanian society, over which great dissatisfaction has long been evident.

Political scientist Blendi Kajsiu says that public space includes not only territory, but also institutions, the state and political parties.

In this context, the fence erected in Zvërnec “is a physical manifestation of the enclosure of the prime minister’s office, parliament and political parties by their ‘owners,’” Kajsiu says. He sees the protest as a civic reaction aimed at expanding public space against its narrowing by narrow private interests.

Gen Z is not waiting for “saviors”

The fact that the protest has no leader is no coincidence for political scientist Kajsiu. He reads it as a consequence of distrust toward political leadership and the fear that any new figure could reproduce the same models the protesters are opposing. “The movement is highly pluralistic from an ideological, social and political point of view, and as a result it is difficult to produce a representative leadership for all the factions that make it up,” he adds.

For academic Artan Fuga, this protest is unfolding in an Albania very different from that of the transition years. According to him, emigration has brought a profound cultural and civic transformation, especially among younger generations.

“Even though it is no longer symbolized by the slogan ‘We want Albania like all of Europe,’ that is still the substance,” Fuga argues. Through family members, emigration and daily contact with the West, citizens have created new expectations about how the state, justice and the relationship between the individual and power should function.

The future of the protest?

For political scientist Blendi Kajsiu, the real challenge of the protest begins where the revolt ends. “The civic protest must begin building democratic and participatory structures that will channel and institutionalize its political and democratic demands,” Kajsiu says.

For Fuga, the battle of the moment is a “game of nerves” between a protest seeking to expand and maintain its momentum, and a government that shows no sign of backing down. According to him, there is a wide gap between citizens and the political class.

“The Albanian urban electorate, and especially young people, are at a higher level in political culture and civic awareness than the current political class,” Fuga says, adding that the Albanian political system has entered a deep crisis that will continue beyond the protest./DW