FLASH
Shkruar nga Thoma Gëllçi
In a democratic country, prime ministers are overthrown by votes. Ballots are used, not prayers. The people decide, not the conclusions of press conferences.
Yesterday, the long-awaited protest of the Democratic Party took place in Tirana. Since so few people gathered there that even a hall could hold them, the leader of the Democratic Party said that it was not a protest, but "Foltorja 2", the open parliament of the citizens.
Rightly, lawyer Ylli Manjani wrote ironically on Facebook that they could ask Rama for the COD hall to hold these speeches on Foltores 2, and he would certainly give it to them. Because Rama also benefits from the facade of pluralism.
But I want to dwell on another detail and not on the number of participants in the protest. Sali Berisha reiterated again that with Edi Rama as prime minister in Albania there are no elections. For more than twenty years, the Democratic Party has been telling Albanians this phrase that they have learned by heart: “There are no free elections with Rama as prime minister.” Sali Berisha says it in a loud voice, the other leaders repeat it in a softer voice, the deputies mutter under their breath, the militants whistle at the door of the headquarters.
To cry and to laugh. It would be like if on the eve of the Partizani–Tirana match, the Partizani coach gathered the players and told them: "Look, we can't beat Tirana! But we'll get into the game because that's what they pay us for!"
The DP's logic is a vicious circle that has no way out: They want Edi Rama to step down as prime minister without holding elections. But for Rama to step down from power, you have to defeat him in elections. But free elections, according to them, do not exist with Rama as prime minister. And for Rama not to be prime minister, you have to win the elections. And for you to win the elections, there must be free elections. And for there to be free elections… Rama should not be prime minister.
Every time the DP loses, whether it's a parliamentary election, a municipal election, or any other type of vote, there's always someone who comes in front of the cameras and says: "With Rama, you can't win." It's so easy, so comfortable, so nice to say. It throws responsibility outside the party. It protects you from difficult questions. It saves you from self-criticism. It saves you from internal reform. And above all, it gives a golden reason to every disappointed member: "Don't worry, it wasn't our fault."
In a democratic country, prime ministers are overthrown by votes. Ballots are used, not prayers. The people decide, not the conclusions of press conferences. But the DP, instead of fighting for the vote, defending it, inspiring the people to follow it, for the program, for the trust, for the energy, for the new faces, for the organization, has become dependent on the idea that Rama is the universal problem, like a superpower that controls everything, even the wind that blows on election day.
By making Rama so all-powerful, the DP ends up elevating the very thing it wants to bring down. It's a bit like complaining that "we can't play basketball because the opponent is too tall."
It is very clear today that Albanians have a big doubt: does the DP not want victory as much as it claims? Maybe what the DP needs is just a nice excuse for defeat, not victory itself. Victory requires work, sweat, change, shaking, opening. Meanwhile, the excuse is free and ready to use whenever you want. Victory is difficult. The alibi is simple.
And the DP is eager for alibis. It has a museum collection of them. First, the administration was blamed. Then the patronageists. Then the electoral process. Then the territorial reform. Then the media. Then the political climate. Then the heat. Then the frost. Then vote buying. Then the selling of votes. Then the lack of votes. And in the end, only one supreme culprit remains: Edi Rama.
Does Edi Rama use what the DP says? Of course. But what does the DP do, how does it respond? Berisha's press conference with the same vocabulary, the same faces and at the same time. At this rate, even if Rama did not participate in the elections at all, the DP would still find a way to lose and would say: "Rama has manipulated his absence."
If the DP truly believes that elections are worthless, then there is no reason for it to exist as a party. Democracy is a vote. If you don't trust the vote, you don't trust democracy. And if you don't trust democracy, how can citizens trust you?
The DP is like a broken mirror where it only sees itself in pieces. It has no clear identity. It has no clear direction. It has no unity. It has no strategy. And above all, it has no sincerity. Because sincerity would mean coming out and saying: “We are not convincing the majority of Albanians. We need to change.” But no. It is better to say: “No one can win against Rama.” It is better to say: “We had no idea what to do.” It is better to say: “Rama knows everything.” In this way, the DP has turned Rama into a legend. Into a kind of negative superhero, who only causes harm from his mind, without having to move.
And so, the DP has built a strange myth: a prime minister who cannot be overthrown. Not because he is good, but because he is impossible to defeat. Meanwhile, democracy is much simpler than that: there is no prime minister who is impossible to defeat. There are only parties incapable of defeating him. And so, every four years, the DP comes out with the same statement: “Next time we will win.” But in the same sentence, it also adds: “With this prime minister, we cannot win.” This is like telling yourself: “I will become a world swimming champion, but don’t throw me in the water because I can’t get my head out.”
This whole situation is a great paradox that makes you laugh and cry at the same time. The DP says that Rama is not leaving with elections. But how is he leaving? With congratulations? With statuses on Facebook? With headbutts at press conferences? With the hope that one day Rama will wake up and say: "Today I am happy not to be prime minister anymore"? The latter, for example, is more likely to happen.
In the end, it all comes down to one simple truth: Rama is not leaving because the DP cannot win against him. And the DP cannot win against him because the DP cannot convince the people. And the DP cannot convince the people because the DP has chosen to explain its defeat with the universe, not with itself.
All Albanians know why the DP cannot win and why the number of its militants, its supporters, is shrinking more and more in imaginary protests. Everyone knows why the DP cannot impose itself on the government to restrain it from abusing the vote and wasting power. Everyone knows why it cannot inspire anyone. Because it is the same faces and the same politics for 30 years.
Tried and tested. A party without internal democracy and without free elections within it, and above all with a discredited figure even internationally like Sali Berisha and his group around him. As long as these factors are there, Rama will always win. And it is no wonder that after some time there will be so few that Edi Rama will really give them an office in the Prime Minister's Office where they can gather to hold the next protest.
BRAVO,PO është e vërtetë. Saliu po e mban Ramën në Pushtet. Po të largohet Saliu, nga të gjitha funksionet politike e Partiake, dhe të zgjidhet një drejtues i ri,jo nga shtabishmenti i vjetër politik, por një figurë e re përbashkuese. Atëherë Rama bie me votë.