DW: What is keeping the protest alive in Albania?

The resistance of more than 20 days has turned “revolution flamingo” into one of the largest civic movements since the fall of the communist system in Albania. Years of discontent has been being carried out publicly, refusing to be represented by traditional politics.

Three Weeks of Resistance

The resistance to the protest cannot be explained only to the events of the last few weeks. For academic Artan Fuga, it is the product of a disappointment that has been built for years outside traditional institutions and politics.

“protest is read as a sudden outburst of anger only for those who have chosen to ignore it for years since it was diagnosed in social networks” he says of Deutsche Welle, adding that “in the last 6 years, the frustration expressed on social networks has been extraordinary”.

According to Funga, criticism has been constantly strengthened against government policies, the prime minister and the opposition. In essence, he argues, the belief that the “opposition and the opposition are the same, part of a joint statement” that has continued to dominate Albanian political life for decades.

Stop the old political class

According to politician Blendi Kaysu at the square, there are co-existing causes and ideas often found on opposite sides of the political spectrum. According to him, what unites protesters is no longer ideology, but rejecting the political model.

“We are witnessing a deep crisis of the Albanian democratic model” ) argues Kaysu for Deutsche Welle. Protesters are not only opposing the government, but a system that has privatised political power and representation. “No one agrees with the model of private democracy that Rama and Berisha have built” he says, and adds that the main protest narrativa is “ball with the old political class”.

The academy Artan Fuga says that in Albanian society it has been that Western sociologist has explained for decades, that the <x0st political wheel does not refresh political elites, on a certain day those elites are in front of revolt and pressure on the” road. According to him, part of the public opinion concluded that political change had become almost impossible, with majority relying on a system favouring the ruling party and opposition involved in internal crisis, without a convincing alternative.

Zvarneci, symbol of political model

The images, when in the sands of Gervneci, in front of phone cameras and in front of the state police, dragged by private security workers, a protester quickly spread to social networks. The gun exploded.

For the academic Artan Fuga, that scene explains why a nature protection protest became something much bigger.

The “was a shocky, creepy element for Albanian public opinion” he says. “The approach highlighted the citizen's report with the state, the individual with his rights and the clash between private interest and public right”. These, according to him, are fundamental issues in Albanian society, which have long shown great dissatisfaction. ,

Politologist Blendi Kaysu says public space includes not only territory, but institutions, state and political parties as well.

In this context, the fence set up at Zvrinec “is a physical manifestation of the siege of the institution of prime minister, parliament and political parties from their” dealt with Kaysu. He sees the protest as a civic response to expand public space against its narrow private interests.

Gen Z does not expect “rescue”

The fact that the protest does not have a leader is no coincidence for politician Kaysiu. He reads as a result of distrust of political leadership and fear that any new figure can reproduce the same models that protesters are opposing. “The movement is very ideological, social and political, as a result it is difficult to produce a representative leadership for all factions that make up it” he adds.

For the academic Artan Fuga this protest is held in a Albania very different from that of years of transition. According to him, immigration has brought a profound cultural and civic transformation, especially to new generations.

“Although it's no longer the symbol we love Albania as the whole of Europe, the content is that” ) argues Fuga. Through family, migration, and everyday contacts with the West, citizens have created new expectations for how the state, justice and the individual's power should function.

The future of protest?

For politician Blendi Kaysu, the real protest challenge begins where the revolt ends. “Civite Citizen should start building democratic and participating structures that will channel and institutionalise its political and democratic demands” dealt with Kaysu.

For Fug, the battle of the moment is a “run of nerves” between the protest seeking to expand and maintain its momentum, and the power that gives no indication that it will withdraw. According to him, there is a huge gap between citizens and the political class.

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