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Former Deputy Chairman and former DP MP Edmond Spaho has c...

What if the DP's December 22 protest fails?

2025-12-21 20:23:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

What if on December 22nd the square remains empty? What if the call of the Democratic Party collides with indifference, with fatigue, with distrust? What if there is no crowd, no anger, no revolt? What if the rejection is so great that the most magnificent protest is a failure?

It would not simply be a failed protest, but the continuation of a political indictment.

Protests don't fail by chance; they fail when they are not believed. When they fail to inspire. When they no longer represent anyone except those who organize them. And this is precisely where the greatest danger for the DP lies: not in Rama's power, but in the gap he has created between himself and society.

If the December 22 protest is not attended, it means that the Democrats no longer feel the DP as their political home. It means that people no longer stand for principles, but are tired of the personal battles of a small group that has transformed the opposition into private property. It means that citizens no longer see the protest as a means of change, but as a worn-out ritual, without ideas, without horizons, without hope.

A failed protest would show that the DP has lost the ability to produce a cause. Because today it is not enough to be against Rama. Nor to slander and accuse Balluk. Nor the drug lord and vote thieves. You need to have a vision, a project, a political morality that makes people get up from the cafe or leave the house. Without these, every call is noise.

The worst thing is that such a failure would confirm that the DP is no longer fighting for democracy, but for the return of some names; some egos; some political dinosaurs that citizens have already disgusted. And when the protest is seen as a personal battle, the rhetoric is extremely outdated and worn out, it is abandoned by the people, no matter how much they have been stabbed in the gut and hate this government.

If the square is empty, the message must be clearly understood, because it is clear: Albanians are not apathetic, they are disappointed. They do not reject politics, but they reject this politics. They reject an opposition that speaks for the people, but does not listen to them. That calls for democracy, but does not practice it within itself. That seeks trust, but does not take any steps to deserve it. That, despite the opposition's oaths, bargains with the government.

A protest without participation would be proof that the DP has lost its organic connection with society. That it no longer mobilizes its own base, not the disengaged citizenry that seeks a representative identity. And this is much more dramatic than any electoral defeat.

However, the failure of the December 22 protest would have been a reflection of a deep identity crisis. A signal that the DP must either radically reform itself or accept that its role as a real opposition is over.

There is an inexorable rule in politics: when the people don't come after you, the problem is not the people. The problem is you! And you must be held accountable!

ps: Even though I am writing these lines almost 24 hours before the protest takes place, I am convinced that in case of failure, the people will again be to blame; never the legendary leaders. They have been losing for 12 years, swearing that they will win and yet after each defeat they do not take any responsibility!