ALB
ENG
By Eduard Zaloshnja
The ruling of the Court of Strasbourg to compensate the owners of the apartments which were demolished by Rama’s government in Vlora, was bad news for Lulzim Basha. At the very moment when he is mobilizing supporters of the Democratic Party to participate in the 27 January protests, all over the mediawe’re seeing headlines such as “Government will pay 13 million euros to Basha’s father in law”.
Although the 13 million euros of the compensation will be received by the owners of the apartments that were demolished and although Basha’s father in law was only one of the partners of the company that sold those apartments (perhaps there were more important partners than him), in the media and the public opinion, that apartment bloc is perceived to be property of Basha’s father in law.
When Basha calls for Albanians from all over the country to come to Tirana to protest against Rama’s government, the idea that Basha’s father in law may receive 13 million euros from this government, is not inspiring at all. What’s more, media is reminding Albanians the suspicious history of the construction of that apartment bloc near the shore and the fact that a few days after his meeting with Basha on 18 May, he accepted on paying 11 million euros for that apartment bloc (only 2 million euros less than the amount decided by the court of Strasbourg).
The story of the apartment bloc in Vlora is reminding Albanians about the question that Rama addressed to Basha in Parliament regarding the oligarchs favored by the government. He mentioned each of them by name, stressing that each of them had been a supporter and sponsor of DP. The message was clear: when it comes to business, no parties care about their principles.
In a situation such as this one, although there may be hundreds of reasons to protest against the government, many Albanians may not find inspiration in Lulzim Basha. Without any doubt, Basha will manage to mobilize the supporters of the Democratic Party all over the country, who are looking forward for the DP to come back to power, in order to return to their previous jobs or once again obtain the favors that they used to obtain. However, they are a small part of the 455 thousand right wing voters who voted right wing parties in 2017.
In his protest, Basha will also be assisted by the Socialist Movement for Integration, which has a disciplined regiment of militants. Protesters will be brought in Tirana by buses. Accustomed to being in power for eight years in a row, they cannot endure being in opposition for too long and they are very eager to respond to any calls to overthrow the government.
To sum it all up, the January 27 protest will look more like an attempt to come to power earlier rather than a popular protest against the government. The decision of the court of Strasbourg to compensate the owners of the apartments demolished by Rama’s government in Vlora seems to be deflating the balloon that Basha was trying to inflate.
How convenient it would be for the head of the Democratic Party if the ruling had been announced after 27 January.
Note: The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect Albanian Free Press’ editorial policy
