Salianji on student protests: Anger over bad governance and young people’s resistance show that Albania still has hope

Clashes between protesting students and law enforcement forces near the Ministry of Education have prompted a response from former Democratic Party MP Ervin Salianji. Police used tear gas and high-pressure water to disperse the young protesters.

According to Salianji, what is unfolding today in the square is the accumulated discontent in Albania as a result of bad governance. He considers the revolt and anger of the young people evidence that hope has not died in this country.

In his statement, the Democrat condemned the way the State Police acted toward the young protesters. He described the intervention as inhumane and interpreted it as a sign of Rama’s political agony, the collapse of every moral boundary and the complete degradation of his governance.

Salianji argued that young people have been denied the opportunity to build the life they deserve in their homeland. According to him, this has been caused by the impossibility of achieving a dignified standard of living, the lack of meritocracy, injustices and inequalities, together with the capture of the state by crime, widespread corruption and the closure of every path toward a better future.

The former Democratic Party MP said that, instead of listening to citizens and taking responsibility for the situation into which he has plunged the country by resigning, Rama has chosen to impose himself through violence, arrogance and bullying on a society that no longer accepts submission.

Salianji stressed that violence cannot defeat a people rising to defend their dignity, freedom and future. He concluded his statement by underlining that Albania continues to have hope because its young people have not given up.