By Desada Metaj
The civic protest that has been demanding the removal of Edi Rama and Sali Berisha for weeks now has a big problem. The well-known duo of Albanian politics is also taking ownership of the protest against them. The Prime Minister has revealed that Erion Veliaj is behind it, while Berisha insists that the organizer is the Democratic Party. Two versions that contradict each other, but which surprisingly serve the same purpose: to remove the civic character of the protest and turn it into a score between politicians.
Not long ago, Edi Rama declared to socialist ministers and political leaders that he has verified information that Erion Veliaj has financed groups of protesters to overthrow him from power. Of course it is true. But in this case, Veliaj would have once again played the role of political pioneer, financing a protest that is essentially against him and the model he represents. The fact remains that the protesters have spared neither the Tirana City Hall building nor Veliaj himself, while calls for his imprisonment have been part of the revolt. It would be a rather original investment: paying people to ask to put you in prison.
On the other side is Sali Berisha, who after publicly attacking the protest and Arlind Qori's Joint Movement, has also taken credit for organizing it, while the chants "Rama in prison, Berisha in prison" have been part of the protest's refrain. Here too we have another paradox: Berisha claims authorship of a protest that also demands his removal.
Personally, I have no sympathy for Arlind Qori, his party or his ideology. But that doesn't stop me from accepting that they were there, part of the protest, just as democrats and citizens with other beliefs were. None of them had a monopoly on the revolt and no one can claim it as their own.
Edi Rama wants to present the protest as a conspiracy by a former collaborator, Sali Berisha wants to present it as a product of the opposition. In both cases, the aim is to take away from the protest exactly what makes it important: the fact that citizens of different persuasions have taken to the streets without getting permission from anyone.
The political diabolism of both is hidden behind a simple question: who is the citizen who demands the removal of Rama and Berisha, who would be motivated to take part in a protest that, according to the prime minister, is financed by Erion Veliaj and, according to the leader of the DP, is organized by his party and Flamur Noka?
And it is not without significance that Rama and Berisha came out with these claims one after the other. Without having to agree, both produced the same political effect: they shifted attention from the reasons for the protest to the debate about who is financing it and who is organizing it.
In fact, the two eternal opponents showed once again how easily they are in sync when their chairs and monopolies are at risk. Rama defends power, Berisha the monopoly of the opposition. One takes Veliaj out of prison as the organizer of a conspiracy, the other takes out the bill of ownership of the protest from the DP headquarters. And for this they are ready to use anyone, collaborators or former collaborators. Veliaj in this case is simply Rama's next tool as a demotivator for those who want to protest.
Rama and Berisha can continue to fight over who owns the protest. But there is a problem that they cannot solve with either Veliaj's conspiracy or the ownership of the protest: people have taken to the streets against them as well. One wants to put the protest in the Fier prison, the other wants to lock it up in the DP headquarters. Both need a protest with an owner, because a protest that does not obey them is much more dangerous than a protest that they can control.
