DW: Protesting students clash with police, young people demand Prime Minister Edi Rama’s resignation and improvements to the education system

Hundreds of students protested in Tirana, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama and improvements to the education system. The protest was accompanied by tensions and clashes with police.

Hundreds of students gathered on Thursday (13.10.) in front of the Ministry of Education in Tirana. The students said they have returned to protest to demand accountability for unkept promises since 2018, when thousands of young people rose up in massive demonstrations for better conditions in higher education.

This time they are demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama, whom they accuse of being primarily responsible.

“We are here as a result of the unfinished business of 2018, and unlike before, we are not coming today with demands, but with our 1001 reasons to protest and to no longer accept negotiating with this government,” said one of the protesters.

According to participants, the dormitories are in scandalous conditions, the curricula are outdated, and the job market for students after they graduate is scandalous. “What we want is meritocracy and good conditions in school,” said another protester.

During the protest, participants threw stones, eggs, paint, and capsules at the Ministry of Education building, and tore down railings and sidewalk tiles.

The situation became more tense as police intervened to disperse the crowd, using water cannons and tear gas.

During the intervention, the blue uniforms escorted several protesters to the police station.

The student protest continued toward Tirana City Hall.

Government and opposition react
While Prime Minister Edi Rama is in Luxembourg, where the next intergovernmental conference was held on closing negotiations for Chapter 20 “Enterprise and Industrial Policy,” the head of the Socialist parliamentary group, Taulant Balla, responded on behalf of the governing party.

“Students are not masked terrorists! There is no student who breaks school windows,” Balla wrote.

For Deputy Prime Minister Albana Koçiu as well, this is not a student protest, but one orchestrated by the opposition.

“It is sad to see how the culture of protest degrades into orchestrated violence and, apparently, heavily ‘provoked’ by sidewalk tiles. Violence has never been, is not, and will never be a solution. The noise of stones, attacks on institutions and the State Police, as well as the senseless destruction of public property, are not the language befitting youth to express themselves, but the old habit of those who use young people to cover up their own political incompetence,” Koçiu wrote.

On the other hand, the opposition accused the State Police of assaulting the students.

“The young men and women protesting for a better Albania deserve respect, not violence; answers, not repression; freedom, not intimidation! Whoever raises a hand against the youth shows fear of their voice and of the change they demand. No power can silence with violence the voice of a generation demanding dignity, justice, and a future in their own country. Do not mistake silence for obedience and fear for submission. The youth will not be intimidated, bought, or stopped! Every act of violence against students is an act against Albania’s future. And every power that chooses violence against the youth accelerates the loss of its own legitimacy. Hands off the students,” Bardhi wrote.

What happened in 2018?
The student protest in Albania began in December 2018 and lasted until February 2019, becoming one of the largest civic and student movements in the country since the fall of communism.

The trigger was the approval of Council of Ministers Decision No. 288 (dated 22.05.2018), which provided for additional fees for carried-over exams (unpaid credits), along with widespread dissatisfaction over poor infrastructure in dormitories, low quality of education, and high tuition fees.

As a result, Prime Minister Edi Rama repealed the decision and made a change in the government cabinet, replacing Education Minister Lindita Nikolla with Besa Shahini. The government also approved decisions to halve tuition fees.

However, beyond these decisions, protesters today say education has deteriorated and young people are being forced to leave Albania.

This resistance comes at a time when Albania has been engulfed by a wave of protests that began in June, with the main demand being the removal of Prime Minister Edi Rama./DW