Thousands in the square demand the prime minister’s resignation, Marjana Koçeku tells the BBC: Rama no longer inspires, this has led him into a major legitimacy crisis

They initially protested over the flamingos, but now the crowd in the streets below Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s office has begun chanting about schools, jobs and living standards as well, and is demanding his resignation.

The pink migratory birds became the symbol of the nightly protests in Albania because they gather in the Narta Lagoon, a protected area near the coastal city of Vlora.

A group of international investors, including the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, aim to develop a luxury resort near the area, and the government has granted them “strategic investor” status.

No building permit has yet been issued, and Rama’s government says the environmental impact assessment has not yet begun, but fencing and excavation machinery have been spotted on the ground.

Small-scale local protests over the potential environmental impact turned into national demonstrations a month ago, when a video showing private security guards assaulting a protester spread on social media. The incident has also been confirmed by the prime minister.

Dissatisfaction has now broadened to include wider concerns about how Albania is being developed and how the country is being governed.

“I’m here for our schools,” a young protester named Helena told the BBC.

“I’m here for our hospitals, for our infrastructure, for my family who are outside Albania and who wanted to be here. And for all of this, I’m here mainly for myself, because I want to stay in my country and I don’t want to leave,” she said.

Rama and the Socialist Party have been in power for 13 years. During that time, Albania has changed significantly.

The urban space of the capital, Tirana, has been transformed by a large number of towers, mostly designed by international architects. At the same time, tourism has seen major growth, changing the country’s international image and accounting for more than a fifth of GDP.

Perhaps one of the most important developments is Albania’s progress toward membership in the European Union. Starting from 2022, the country aims to complete accession negotiations by the end of next year. Of the six Western Balkan countries, only Montenegro is further ahead, and it has a decade more of negotiations behind it.

But these achievements do not convince well-known protester Fatos Lubonja. The writer and human rights activist spent 17 years in a forced labor camp during Enver Hoxha’s communist dictatorship.

Today, he says, the current government is propped up by “oligarchs, organized crime, the media and corrupt internationals,” while the construction boom is nothing more than money laundering.

“We want justice to investigate,” he said, pointing to the tall towers surrounding Skanderbeg Square in central Tirana. “If you look at all these towers, it turns out this is a plan of organized crime, oligarchs and state officials,” he added.

Taking a quiet moment in his office in mid-afternoon, before the evening protests begin, Rama views the demonstrations as a sign of a democratic and functioning society.

However, some of his closest political allies are under investigation by Albania’s anti-corruption prosecution office (SPAK), including the former deputy prime minister and the mayor of Tirana.

So should Albanians also be worried about the prime minister’s integrity?

“I said it from day one: I want a justice system that does not look left, does not look right, but looks straight ahead,” Rama said. “A justice system that cannot be bought, that is not pressured and that is not controlled remotely by anyone. And I have also said that this is the greatest contribution the Socialist Party will make to this country, because it will not contribute only through reforms, but also by putting itself to the test for the country.”

But the newest member of the Albanian parliament has decided that cooperation with the Socialist Party is no longer the answer. Rama had personally selected 25-year-old Majana Koçeku as a candidate in last year’s election after she became known as an environmental activist in Shkodra county.

She has now left the party, saying that her youth did not allow her “to stay and applaud the government and pretend that nothing is happening.” In her view, Rama is a large part of the problem.

“He no longer inspires people and I think this has led him into a major legitimacy crisis. It took me time to understand that beyond the beautiful facades that look so brilliant, reality is not the same. And people are understanding that more and more every day,” Koçeku told the BBC.

For now, the situation appears deadlocked. The protesters are not backing down, and Rama is not leaving either. So the flamingos are expected to remain a familiar sight in protests on the streets of Tirana./BBC