FLASH
Shkruar nga Thoma Gëllçi
The message to the protesters was simple: “I heard you. I won’t do any of what you’re asking, but I heard you.”
The Prime Minister appeared before the parliamentary group with a video produced by Kinostudio “Rilindja” and a document that was distributed to MPs and ministers for reading during the holidays. After the screening of the film, which was followed with great attention by those present, the Prime Minister took the floor, declaring from the beginning that there were indeed protests on the streets of Tirana, but the protesters had not come out against the government, even though they were demanding its removal.
The speech then continued by giving the example of a mayor who had fixed a road, but the residents were angry because they also demanded water, electricity and sewage. According to this mayor, the citizens were ungrateful. The Prime Minister emphasized that the citizens were not ungrateful at all, but they had increased their demands and expectations. In the past, the citizen was happy when the road was paved. Today, he also demands that the road not crack after the first rain. Herein lies, according to the Prime Minister, the big problem of modern Albania: the citizen is no longer so easily satisfied.
Previously, people waited patiently. Today, they demand answers. Previously, they thanked for a school. Today, they ask why there are no teachers. Previously, they saw the new hospital on TV. Today, they go to the clinic and find neither a doctor nor medicine. These are no longer problems. They are European expectations.
The Prime Minister admitted that the government's facts are no longer enough. The government says that the economy is growing, while the citizen looks at the prices. The government says that healthcare is free, while the patient pays the doctor out of pocket and buys medicines that are not in the hospital. The government says that the administration is digital, while the farmer waits three years for a response by email. Between the two alternatives, changing reality and explaining this reality, so that the citizen can also see it through the eyes of the government, of course the second alternative is the best. Changing reality will take time, while changing perception can be achieved more easily.
And this is where the new solution was born: empathy.
The fourth term will not only promise roads, airports, ports and towers. It will promise that, when the administration does not give you an answer, it will at least understand you. When it refuses, it will refuse gently. When it leaves you waiting for three years, in the end the prime minister himself will call you and explain why no one else had called you. This also charged Lepires with the task of explaining that the administration had not implemented the leaders' repeated orders.
Then came the classification of birds.
The flamingos were the good protesters, the ones who came out, raised their voices, and then went home. The crows and ravens were the ones who continued to protest even after the government had decided the protest was over.
The flamingo demands an account from the citizens. The crow demands resignation. The flamingo is a symbol of democracy. The crow becomes the enemy of tourism. Thus, with a little political ornithology, the protest was divided into useful birds and dangerous birds.
There was no shortage of external enemies either. There were Iranians, Russians, Serbs, Greeks jealous of tourism, fake profiles, algorithms, lobbyists, and distant senators. It only remained to be discovered whether the flamingos had also come from abroad with dubious financing.
However, the prime minister was right. He said that the protest was not invented by the enemies. The enemies had only used it. So, the citizens had come out on their own, but then without realizing it, they had become involved in an international operation against tourism, stability, and hotel reservations.
Finally, the great political turning point was announced. The first three terms had changed Albania. The fourth term would change the way citizens should experience Albania.
The first Renaissance built facts. Renaissance 2.0 will build feelings.
The government didn't promise to stop projects that were being opposed, to respond more quickly, to listen before making decisions, or to be more accountable. It promised to explain everything with empathy.
The message to the protesters was simple: “I heard you. I won’t do any of what you’re asking, but I heard you.”
In the end, the flamingos must return to the lagoon, the citizens to their homes, and the MPs to the “Besa” document. We must patiently explain to the citizens why seeking their vote in the first four terms could not be considered as if the government had given them a trust, and why now the vote that is being sought will be sought with trust.
Lini një Përgjigje