By Muriel
Being an oppositionist does not necessarily mean being a resister. An oppositionist can be against the government just because it is not in power. A resister is against injustice even when it comes from their own people.
This is the biggest test for any Democrat today.
I am not a resister to serve a party leadership. I am not a resister to protect every MP, every official or every name that bears the DP logo. I am a resister because I reject a political model where the government buys, the opposition is silent and the citizen is used only as a protest decoration.
In Albania, the crisis is not only with Edi Rama and the Socialist Party. The crisis is with the model that the government has built and that, unfortunately, seems to have penetrated even parts of the opposition. When part of the party hierarchy, MPs or high-ranking officials are perceived as comfortable, connected to economic interests, administrative favors or tacit agreements with the government, then the opposition risks no longer being an alternative. It risks turning into a facade.
And the facade doesn't bring down the system. The facade beautifies it.
The problem is not only when the government uses the administration, tenders, police, municipalities or institutions to maintain control. The problem becomes even more serious when the opposition, which should denounce this model, silently benefits from it. When ordinary citizens flee the country, wait for a job, face injustice or feel defenseless, while family members of politicians settle down, make careers and open doors that remain closed to normal people, then oppositionism turns into empty talk.
As an opposition member of the DP, I have no duty to be a notary of my deputies. My duty is not to applaud every decision, every list, every candidate or every leader. My duty is to defend the cause. The deputy who speaks as an opposition member on the podium, but lives comfortably from the system behind the scenes, must be held accountable. The official who demands sacrifice from the democrats, but himself has family members, interests or businesses protected by the government, cannot demand trust without transparency.
Because the true opposition is not measured by how much it curses the government. It is measured by how pure it is when it approaches power.
Here the question arises: why should I be resistant?
Because if I don't stand, the opposition becomes the property of those who bargain. Because if ordinary democrats remain silent, then the party remains in the hands of those who seek power without change. Because if we accept any compromise only out of fear that we are "harming the opposition", then we have damaged the most important thing: the trust of citizens.
I am not against the DP when I call for a purge within the DP. On the contrary, I am more democratic than those who want to use the DP as a personal shield. I am more oppositional than those who shout against Rama during the day and negotiate with the system at night. I am more loyal to the cause than those who see the party as a ladder to power, wealth and immunity.
A party that does not purify itself in opposition cannot promise to purify the state in power. If new figures enter politics with old mindsets, arrogance, vested interests, shady dealings, or a thirst for privilege, then age does not bring change. A new face with old morals is simply recycling. And recycling is not hope.
If someone gets involved in the opposition, what will they do in power? If someone compromises without yet having the state in their hands, what will they do when there are tenders, appointments, administration, police, municipality and budget? If someone behaves as part of the system today, tomorrow they cannot be sold to us as a change.
That is why I do not want a DP that only seeks rotation. I do not want a DP that replaces socialists in offices and maintains the same system of favoritism. I do not want a DP where the member is used for protests, while decision-making is divided between the same names. I want a DP where the deputy is afraid of the member, not where the member obeys the deputy. I want a DP where lists, candidacies and political careers are not rewards for personal loyalty, but for integrity, work and confrontation.
Resistance cannot remain just a revolt. It must become the standard. The DP must start from itself: transparency for its MPs and officials, public declaration of conflicts of interest, distancing itself from any figure who does business with the government, real primaries and not predetermined lists, accountability for family members placed in the administration, and a clear separation from any local or central bargaining with the government.
Without this cleansing, any promise of change remains just an electoral slogan.
When high-level corruption has become a national scourge, the opposition must be the moral institution that demands justice. But the opposition cannot demand justice only for its opponent. It must accept the standard for itself as well. If there are MPs, officials or party figures with conflicts of interest, with unfairly settled family members, with business connections with people close to power or with suspicious silence about affairs, they cannot hide behind the opposition flag.
The flag washes no one away. The slogan cleanses no one away. The sacrifice of ordinary democrats cannot be used as a cover for the comfort of the privileged.
This is why I do not accept an opposition that only asks for my vote, but does not accept my voice. I do not accept a party where the base is called upon only when numbers are needed in the square, but is forgotten when mandates, lists and decisions are distributed. I do not accept that ordinary democrats bear the cost of the battle, while some others bear the benefits of the system.
An opposition that does not listen to the grassroots will not listen to the citizen tomorrow. An opposition that is not accountable to the party will not be accountable to the government tomorrow. An opposition that is silent about its own bargains today will call them "state compromises" tomorrow.
Is this the last kilometer?
Maybe so. But the last mile is not just the road to the overthrow of a government. The last mile is proof of whether the opposition still has spirit, character, and people who refuse to be bought.
It's a test of whether Democrats will follow through on every bargain, or whether they will stop and say: not like that.
Because it may happen that, thinking that we are moving towards victory, we are actually moving backwards towards the same politics. It may happen that, by shouting "change", we are only accepting a change of seats. It may happen that Rama will leave one day, but his model will remain alive within those who today pretend to fight him.
And that would be the biggest loss.
I am an opposition member of the DP, but I am not the property of the DP. I am against Rama, but I am also against any democrat who behaves like Rama in the shadows. I am against the corrupt government, but I am also against the captured opposition. I am against the government's bargains, but I am also against the bargains that are made in the name of the opposition.
The resister is not a blind militant. The resister is the man who does not sell his conscience even when he is told that he is ruining things. He does not remain silent to preserve someone's career. He does not close his eyes to protect his deputy. He does not accept evil just because it comes from his political wing.
Therefore, I must be persistent.
Not to save a leader. Not to protect a deputy. Not to justify a party. But to defend the idea that politics can be more than a bargain. To defend ordinary democrats who have borne the costs, while others have retained privileges. To defend oppositionism from those who want to turn it into a personal business.
If this is the last mile, I refuse to walk it with my eyes closed to those who have bargained along the way. I refuse to be asked to make sacrifices by those who have chosen comfort. I refuse to be talked into battle by those who have made peace with the system.
Better to be a minority that stands up straight than a majority that walks backwards while shouting victory.
Because change doesn't start when Rama leaves.
Change begins when the opposition refuses to become Rama after Rama.
