A statement by entrepreneur and former Socialist candidate for MP, Laura Ferhati, has sparked numerous reactions and debate on social media. Invited to the podcast "Mam" with Orinda Huta, Ferhati recounted one of the most difficult moments of her life: the premature birth of her son in Germany, at a time when the world was in total isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the story, Ferhati revealed that during the period when flights were suspended and borders were closed, she managed to travel to Germany thanks to the intervention of her friends in politics. According to her, Elisa Spiropali, who at the time held the position of Minister of State for Parliamentary Relations, provided her with a seat on the diplomatic plane on which the German ambassador was traveling. The former candidate added that this experience made her realize how important it is to have friends in difficult times.
However, this testimony has been met with a wave of criticism from followers on social media. Many citizens, especially women and mothers, have reacted by drawing attention to the difficulties of that period, where thousands of people faced the inability to travel, lack of income and strict restrictions, without having any possibility of contact with senior officials.
Commentators have raised questions about the equality of citizens before the law and state structures, questioning whether such an opportunity would be offered to every individual in similar emergency conditions. For most of the public opinion, the debate does not focus on Ferhat's human case, but on the general perception that in Albania, acquaintances with people in power create privileges inaccessible to ordinary citizens, even in times of global crisis.
