Protests over the country’s poor governance, Rama tells Italpress: Unfortunately, people are no longer talking about the flamingos! If they accuse me of handing over the land, let them bring proof!

Prime Minister Edi Rama spoke to the Italian media outlet “Italpress” about the popular unrest that has erupted in Albania for nearly a month. Rama said that those accusing him of handing over the lands of Zvërnec should present evidence to substantiate these accusations.

He said the Flamingo Revolution is like a movie script. Meanwhile, while Albanians are protesting the country’s poor governance, Rama in international media also brings in the President of the United States, saying the protests are against him.

Rama also spoke at length about the “Flamingo Revolution” protests against a resort project in southern Albania. He rejected the accusations and said they are damaging the country’s image.

“For years I have been accused of every kind of thing. I don’t know whether there is still anything left that has not been attributed to me,” he said, adding that this “causes me deep pain. Because at that point, it is no longer just about me, but about Albania.”

“How can you respond? We have reached a point where it seems that a fundamental principle has been overturned: it should be those making the accusations who bring evidence, not the accused who must constantly prove his innocence. This so-called Flamingo Revolution at first seemed almost like the script of a film. Today it seems to me that the protest has taken other directions and shifted to other issues. If they accuse me of handing over these lands or of damaging a beautiful part of Albania’s coastline, then they must bring proof. So far, however, no evidence has been presented. No one, up to now, has proved anything. There is no evidence, because the process is still ongoing,” he said, adding that, “we still have not signed any agreement, because the negotiations have not been concluded.”

As for the other development, on private land according to Rama: “the state and the government have nothing to do with it: there is still no building permit and the procedure is still underway. We really have reached a paradoxical situation.”

Prime Minister Rama said that, nevertheless, he understood the reasons of those who had taken to the streets to protest: “I fully understand those who went out to protest.”

“I have said it publicly: if I had been among them and had heard everything that was being said, I might have felt the same dissatisfaction and the same indignation. But if I had then heard the other side – in this case the government – say: ‘Come, we will show you that none of what you have been told exists, there is no evidence,’ I would have felt reassured and gone back home.

Unfortunately, today the issue has gone beyond that and people are no longer even talking about the flamingos. The flamingos have become a useful symbol for those who want to take this issue into the international arena. At the local level it is an issue involving different groups in society, including the opposition; at the international level it turns into a battle against Donald Trump,” he concluded.