In the opposition, everything seems frozen. After a long holiday season, Belind Këlliçi returned today with a statement that is essentially nothing new: according to him, Berisha has the merit of continuing to denounce May 11 as an electoral farce. And yet beyond this refrain there is no clear signal of what will happen to the opposition from September. Only a silent confirmation that in the DP, the only figure who produces politics, for better or worse, remains Sali Berisha. The others are limited to some status or video on social networks, which fade as quickly as they are published.
This passive approach shows more clearly than ever the leadership vacuum within the DP. There is no plan, no meetings, no orientation. No forum has been convened, no decision has been made since the May 11 elections, while key issues for the opposition are left hanging in the balance, waiting for a single person. At the end of the day, even its representatives publicly admit that “the forums will decide”, but no one knows when or how this will happen.
But the panorama is no longer clear in the other camp either. In the SP, after a new electoral victory, not even Edi Rama's closest associates know what the new government cabinet will be. Ministers, MPs and leaders of the SP expect to learn their fate not from the prime minister, but from the television screen. As a bitter reward for their loyalty, the government post has become a public surprise and not a product of political engagement.
It is no surprise to the public that this reality is indicative of a political model that has usurped party life in both camps. Just as Berisha controls the DP and its agenda according to personal interest, Rama holds the Socialist Party hostage, turning it into a structure that exists only to reproduce his power. In both cases, the deputies, elected from closed lists, are not even spectators but simply puppets who keep moving under the direction of the leaders.
And in the end, Albanians are left with only one choice: which arena they want to sit in: in the blue political circus or the pink political circus. The spectacle is guaranteed, but the change is not.
