Despite the disastrous result of the November 9 by-elections, Adriatik Lapaj appears convinced that the "Albania Becomes Movement" won... trust. Not power, not the municipality, but trust. And this, according to him, is more important than any mandate that the "state party" may have counted.
In a lengthy response on social media, Lapaj said that his force “did not hide” — a sentence that sounded more like a jab at the official opposition than self-praise. “We did not choose to hide, we chose to confront,” he wrote, recalling that “the only party that officially competed against the government was the Albania Becomes Movement.”
In the same vein, Lapaj listed all the obstacles that, according to him, make the electoral race impossible: pressure on the administration, fear on the business, and an “army of opinion leaders” who serve to preserve the status quo.
But while the picture he describes looks like a political thriller, his result in Cërrik remains much more mundane: from 6.28% in the May 11 elections, to 13.62% on November 9 — a “doubling” that Lapaj himself sees as “evidence of the citizens’ trust.”
In fact, for an opposition that barely manages to enter the race, every percentage sounds like a medal of courage. “Seeking the race in a country where it does not exist is the greatest contribution you can make,” he writes, turning the result into a moral, not a political, act.
In conclusion, Lapaj calls on Albanians "who seek change" to join his movement.
An honest invitation, but one that at the moment seems to be heard more on Facebook than at the ballot box.
