Protest Outside Government Headquarters/ Activists Compare Rama to Lukashenko: We Have Torn Off the Prime Minister’s Mask

One of the participants in the protest, which has been taking place for 45 consecutive days outside the Prime Minister’s Office and calls for Edi Rama to leave power, drew a sharp parallel between him and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

According to the activist, the uninterrupted civic resistance has exposed what he described as a style of governance similar to autocratic regimes. “These 45 days have been incredible. This movement has dealt a severe blow to government corruption. The massive participation of young people and the entire population has ruined the image of this more rotten-than-ever government,” he said.

He also stressed that the protest has seriously damaged the image that, according to him, Rama has projected on the international stage.

“Our 45-day peaceful resistance has made it possible for us to tear off the mask of this prime minister, who whenever he travelled abroad tried to portray himself as an innovative leader who had fixed everything and whose Albania was progressing. During these 45 days, we proved to Europe and beyond that he is not at all a visionary leader, but a second Lukashenko. Just like Lukashenko, who has been in charge for decades and justifies his continued rule with the popular vote, Rama too has built an autocratic mechanism to subjugate the people, in which a minority is privileged at the expense of the majority,” he concluded.