Several activities were organized on Wednesday in Tirana to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the assassination of former Democratic Party MP Azem Hajdari, one of the key figures of the student movement that led to the collapse of the communist dictatorship in Albania and one of the protagonists of Albanian politics in the 1990s.
Hajdari was assassinated near the Democratic Party’s headquarters in Tirana.
The main activity dedicated to Hajdari was inaugurated by his daughter Rudina Hajdari, who is now a DP MP, like her father was in the 1990s. Numerous speakers brought back memories, appreciating Hajdari’s special role in the student movement that toppled communism.
“Rarely one can find a historical figure that turns into a leader within an hour, a posicion he risked paying every day with his life,” former Prime Minister and former head of the DP Sali Berisha said.
For current President Ilir Meta, Hajdari has left traces in history with his courage, bravery and actions.
“This figure invites us today to reflect and understand that democracy neither comes as a gift nor does it remain as such. Democracy requires courage to win, but also courage to defend every day, because the smallest tolerance of human rights violation today leads to an advance of even greater authoritarianism tomorrow,” Meta said.
Besnik Mustafaj, Hajdari’s colleague and friend, constructed his speech as an imaginary open letter directed to the deceased.
“The country is going the wrong direction, dear Azem. Azem’s dream for Albania to be like the rest of Europe is stalled. Corruption has become a gangrene that erodes our society’s morale and is hindering economic development. The Democratic Party is not where history requires and where Azem would like to be, giving a voice to political dissatisfaction, embodying what is vital today, people’s hope, and leading them towards fulfilling your dream, to make Albania like the rest of Europe,” he said.
Among speakers was renowned journalist Blendi Fevziu, who said that Hajdari, in addition to his courage, knew how to negotiate with his opponents, had the instinct to avoid authority and guarantee freedom’s dimension.
While paying homage near the monument raised at the site Hajdari was assassinated 20 years ago, DP leader Lulzim Basha pledged that “we will not be subjected to evil, we will not be subject to state violence either; nor the crime of violence. Let us commit today to Azem Hajdari, God and the Nation, that we will purge the policy of the crime to open up for Albania the road that has been blocked during the last five years. That there will be freedom and democracy in Albania as well. You are alive! Your dream ‘For Albania like all Europe’ leads us into the battle of the victory of good above evil.”
Hajdari’s murder continues to be a matter of controversy and debate. Although the Albanian courts have given sentences to the perpetrators accused of assassinating him, one of them, Izet Haxhia, extradited only recently from Turkey, demands that the file and the judicial process be reopened.
