"Rama, the most powerful in 30 years"/ Fevziu: Albania does not have the democratic space it used to have

2025-10-28 10:20:00, Politikë CNA

"Rama, the most powerful in 30 years"/ Fevziu: Albania does not have

Journalist Blendi Fevziu said that Albania does not have the democratic space it had before, as it lacks political debate and political balance during the over 30-year period after the transition.

Invited to the show "The Unexposed" with journalist Ylli Rakipi, Fevziu also analyzed the relationship between power and time, as he described Prime Minister Edi Rama as the most powerful man in the last three decades.

Feziu said that the biggest concern is that authoritarian and strong regimes are growing at the expense of democracy.

"Arrogance does not come from the personal reaction of an individual as it is also related to character. But when we talk about the government, arrogance comes from numbers. As long as a government has high numbers, it naturally becomes more arrogant. As long as a government is not threatened in votes, it becomes more arrogant. As long as a government increases the number of deputies, it naturally comes by taking territory from other powers.

Is Rama the most powerful man in Albania today? Is he the most institutionally powerful man Albania has had in these 30 years? Yes. If we talk about powers, in the years 92-94, Berisha also had all the powers, but he was faced with a strong opposition.

The moment we are going through, Rama is very powerful, he has almost every power, you cannot tell a person, be gentle or otherwise, a person gets arrogance from power. If someone thinks that Rama should not be arrogant and should not have these powers, you should not vote for him. People tell me, a woman caught me on the street and said Rama has won everything, he even destroyed the balcony that I had covered to sell packages, I have voted for him all my life, she said. I said, why are you shouting at me, I have never voted for him, you who vote for him and empower him, when he comes to your house, you start thinking.

If they vote for him, Rama will become even more powerful, he will become even more arrogant. This is a very simple thing. Even the institutions, it is not so easy to resist. It is 83 mandates. Is it arrogance, gathering the leaders of the DP in districts and placing them in positions? Yes. It is an attempt to lead the country towards a country with a single party, where the opposition almost does not exist. When you take the leaders of the opposition too.

The problem is, after 35 years of Albania's transformation, the country does not have the democratic space it had before. It does not have the political debate it had, the political balance it had, it does not have it in the central or local government. The DP only has Kavaja and Puka. It has taken all the local power. It has all the central power, it has 83 mandates in Parliament.

He continues and wins at the same pace. Or there will be interference from internationals, who do not seem to have any concern about interfering, secondly, the DP's space is shrinking and let's not forget that it is not just an Albanian phenomenon, it is a global phenomenon.

There are people in the US who are taking to the streets, considering that the democratic space is shrinking. Last weekend it was like that. In Belgrade, it is claimed that a million people will take to the streets to challenge Vucic. Or Erdogan, 27 years. In the early '90s, this was unimaginable.

"We are returning to a situation where authoritarian and strong regimes are growing at the expense of democracy," Fevziu said. /CNA