Democratic Party MP Luçiano Boçi spoke in an interview with News24 about political developments in Albania, student protests and the situation within the Democratic Party. In his remarks, he also focused on the similarities he sees between Prime Minister Edi Rama and Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić.
According to Boçi, developments in Serbia should serve as a political warning to Rama. He claimed that Vučić’s downfall has accelerated the Albanian prime minister’s political demise.
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The Democratic MP said the continuation of the protests and the determination of citizens show that the pressure exerted by the government is failing to stop the public reaction. He strongly criticized the way the police have intervened, particularly against students, saying the measures taken have produced the opposite effect: the number of protesters has grown and their resistance has strengthened.
Boçi said the opposition is seeking the establishment of a technical government, which, he argued, would create the conditions for free and fair elections. He accused the Rama government of building a mechanism to manipulate the vote through control over the central and local administration, criminal ties and questionable economic interests.
He described the presence of students and lecturers at the protests as an indication of the discontent that has accumulated in society. According to him, threats of prison and repressive measures are no longer managing to intimidate citizens who have chosen to protest.
“What is happening is not merely an alarm signal, but a lesson that Rama may receive in the harshest possible form. His departure could be accompanied by a large margin of votes, with consequences not only for the Socialist Party but for Albanian politics as a whole.
We should bear in mind the German saying that every comparison falls short. The comparison between the Albanian opposition and Serbia cannot be complete, while the parallel between Rama and Vučić may hold. Nevertheless, I believe Rama’s downfall could be even more painful than Vučić’s. In a democratic system, elections determine whether a prime minister will continue to govern or not. I see a high level of anger and a protest that is standing firm. People are not backing down even in the face of violence.
Police violence against the student protests has surpassed every previous precedent. It has been unlimited, and the aim has been to prevent students and young people from taking to the square. But the result has been the opposite: the number of citizens and students has increased, while their resistance has grown stronger. This could be the road leading to Rama’s downfall.
The first step must be the creation of a technical government. The demand addressed to Rama is similar to the one made of Vučić: to create the conditions for free and fair elections. In Albania, this can be achieved only through a technical government, since Rama has established an organized mechanism for manipulating the vote, which he can put into use whenever he needs it.
According to him, this mechanism is maintained through staying in power, the dependence created within the central and local administration, criminal ties and the questionable economic interests that have been built and encouraged. Nevertheless, it appears that the shock has begun and support for the prime minister is falling. Like a mouse in a building, Rama is the first to feel the earthquake. The increase in his aggressiveness shows, in my view, that his departure could be even more painful and that the consequences for his political future could be more serious.
This will be a departure from which Rama will not return. The longer he prolongs his resistance and the more he resorts to harsh forms of response, the greater the consequences will be for him and for the political force he leads.
Within a traditional political force, there should be figures who restrain the leader when he takes actions and makes mistakes that are so serious for the country and the party. Such voices exist, but they emerge sporadically and bring no concrete consequences. A much stronger stance was needed. All of this, in my view, is a sign that makes Rama’s downfall even more painful.
I have previously stated that there was a kind of political tango between Rama and Vučić in the Balkans. Perhaps both were part of an arrangement intended to keep them in power, strengthening each other and their rule over their respective peoples. The downfall of one automatically weakened the other and sent a clear message both to him and to his opponents: resistance must continue, because it can produce results.
The result is the downfall of the autocrat. In this case, the autocrat is Rama. When this will happen depends on how the resistance is managed. In my view, the measures taken against the students have not weakened the protest to the point of stopping it. I do not believe Rama will have time to exert economic, physical and intimidating pressure on the students and protesters.
Rama may have thought he would remain in power until 2029, but according to Boçi, Vučić’s downfall has accelerated his political end. Rama is understanding this situation, just as citizens and the opposition as a whole are. These are political messages that must be read correctly.
Every person who takes to the square may have positive or negative views of the opposition. But we are the opposition, and an important unity between the political and civic opposition would accelerate this process. After that, citizens will decide how to vote, because they know whom they want to elect.
We should not focus on a war of words over how many votes each side will receive. Citizens know what they are seeking, and their anger is evident. It has been generated by numerous issues and scandals that have become public. When lecturers join the students, it shows that the government is facing a serious problem.
Rama is merely trying to prolong his time in power through repressive measures, but they are no longer managing to frighten society. In 2013, his threats of prison may have frightened people. Today, when he uses these threats at the end of his time in power, they have no effect on citizens who have decided to protest.
Only the people around him who continue to remain loyal may be frightened, but not the citizens who have chosen to take to the square. They have experienced the government’s violence and are now maintaining a civic stance. This represents important support for the protest and may serve as a basis for the success of the students, society and Albanian politics,” he said.
