Nikollaq Neranxi: The coffin in the square; when the people bury a finished regime!

By Nikollaq Neranxi

Rama and his people felt offended by the symbolism of a coffin, as a metaphor for political death. In fact, peaceful protests, through powerful symbolism, are expressing the urgent need to be heard and to receive concrete solutions.

The citizens in the square today represent the dignity of the nation; they are the embodiment of a resistance that disregards the cynicism of the times and proves that this people’s ability to react remains alive.

However, after 36 days of mass mobilization, the lack of a more energetic stance from the international community is disappointing. Those who once spared no praise, support, and even kisses for the prime minister now have a moral duty to take a clear position on this delicate crisis. In the spirit of the Chinese wisdom that “he who hung the bell on the tiger must also remove it,” the internationals must become aware that their investment in leaders like Rama cannot outweigh the will of a people exhausted by corruption and misgovernance. The call for “civility” toward a government that has exercised systematic “violence” against its citizens is a paradox that the coffin in the square demystifies perfectly.

SPAK’s role also remains critical. This institution holds the keys to the solution; the immediate investigation of electoral crimes, which are documented and gathered in their drawers, could render the last elections legally invalid. Hope for an awakening among some deputies in a motion of no confidence remains slim, as long as their mandates are held hostage by criminal groups rather than the will of the citizens. Beyond rhetoric, the internationals must monitor SPAK, which, through silence and inaction, is holding the fate of Albanian democracy hostage.

Faced with this deadlock, where neither the protesters nor the government are backing down, more radical democratic methods are required. Escalating civil disobedience through a nationwide “blackout” — in which businesses suspend operations to paralyze the machinery of power — may be the necessary next step. As an entrepreneur, I am ready to accept temporary financial sacrifice in exchange for liberation from a fiscal and administrative burden that is suffocating the economy. I am sure that such paralysis would bring down the government very quickly.

Now is the moment for another level of resistance. If the challenge is who can endure longer, then the sacrifice must be shared and escalated, until a secure and final solution is achieved.