University of Tirana student protesters threw eggs and chanted angry slogans at Prime Minister Edi Rama as he left a meeting on campus this week in what appears to have been an impromptu protest.
This was good news for Albanian democracy, particularly because it came from a single-issue organized group of public university students and professors who have been advocating against a new higher education law that makes it more expensive for them to attend school.
Most of these students are the new face of Albania’s progressive movement: Well-educated, true leftists and angry at a government for which they likely voted two years ago. One does not have to fully agree with their cause on free higher education to applaud their courage to challenge authority in a country where there is not enough independent valiant political action in the face of arrogance from rulers.
They have set the foundation of an innovative nonviolent approach that others can follow to successfully organize to protect public interests at a time much of the political class in Albania appears to be deaf to the needs of Albanian voters when elections are years away – and even then, many argue, the electoral system is fixed to leave many Albanians unrepresented and to make sure the seats of parliament are filled with rubber-stamp MPs, many of whom, at least in the current parliament, lack the proper education and respectable background to inspire faith in the democratic process.
As political experts have noted for years, the typical political ideas of right and left hold little weight in Albania. The Socialist government is pursuing policies that are similar to those of right-wing governments elsewhere. It faces accusations of protecting affiliated oligarchs at the expense of the most vulnerable parts of society. And the nominally center-right opposition Democratic Party is making populist promises more reminiscent of compassionate leftists than its own professed conservative line – no taxes for the poor and forgiveness of accumulated interests on overdue electricity bills.
The reality is that public interest has seldom come first in political agendas in Albania – at least that’s what most Albanians believe, according to recent polls. They don’t trust their politicians, often having to vote for “the lesser evil.”
With the political class often discredited and easily attacked for its wrongdoings, perhaps it is best if progressive action and organization happens outside and independent of political parties. Albania had some experience with this type of progressive movements about a decade ago, albeit they fell prey to political influence instead of them ending up influencing politics.
This new crop of progressive organizers could be different, however. And as more independent protesters are likely to take to the streets, their rights should fiercely be protected.
The violent restrain and detainment of the student protesters this week was unwarranted. Not taking into account the initial reaction of the prime minister’s bodyguards, which was understandable and legal, what followed was unnecessary forceful. Police said in an official statement the students had not been mistreated, but in a video posted online, a police officer in civilian clothes is seen slapping one of the protesters. Another protester is seen to be forcefully thrown to the ground by security officials. Members of the group said their hair had been pulled and they had been dragged on the ground.
They were then held for hours, charged with resisting police, and released sharp at 7:30 p.m. just in time for the nightly newscasts of the largest television channels. It did help that tens of student protesters camped in front of police headquarters demanding the release of their friends. “Bring us blankets,” they chanted, indicating they would sleep at the door of the police station.
We are likely to see more of these protests in the months to come, and they too will be good for Albanian democracy. While anger against the higher education law from the students can justify the egg throwing, the accompanying chants of “thief, thief,” “charlatan,” and “shame on you” addressed at the prime minister are a reflection of growing anger in the Albanian population, which is now beginning to see the same type of scandals and allegations of corruption in the current government that it saw in the last.
Furthermore the government’s punitive measures to fight informality in the economy are causing understandable anger among members of the public who are losing their jobs and livelihoods in a campaign that might have been well-intentioned but has resulted harsh in implementation with bad repercussions for the economy, something the prime minister too accepted this week, just a few minutes before the eggs flew.
– Written by Andi Balla, aballa@tiranatimes.com
