The protests that broke out in Albania on May 23rd are growing in the capital of Tirana and other cities.
The trigger for the protests was the approval of luxury tourist developments financed by Jared Kushner’s investment company, Affinity Partners Fund. They have chosen to build in an area that protects a critical ecosystem for migrating birds moving between Europe and Africa and providing habitat to over 200 sensitive animal species, including the flamingos which have become a symbol for the movement. The nearly completed airport nearby has also been opposed by many environmental organizations as dangerous to the ecosystem.
The approval which amounted to a sell-off of the coastal lands was a trigger giving rise to the slogan “Albania is not for sale.” The revolt draws on a deep pool of anger at corruption, emigration of the younger generations, social inequalities and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few people, lack of transparency, authoritarianism, police brutality, neo-liberal policies, and government support for Trump and Israel’s genocide.
Investigative journalists have found a controversial tangle of local businesses and political interests behind the presidential American family, including individuals linked to organized crime allegations, judicial misconduct, and one of Albania’s most powerful oligarchs.
After a May 30th attack by private security guards on peaceful protesters in the Zvërnec protected area the movement exploded. Protesters’ anger is aimed at the whole political class, with people throwing fireworks at the prime minister’s residence, and demanding the imprisonment of Edi Rama and Sali Berisha. Rama leads the so-called Socialist Party while Berisha leads the main opposition party, the conservative Democratic Party. Both are parties of the status quo.
The Democratic party held power immediately following the fall of the Stalinist regime. They followed a crash course of political, institutional, legislative, and economic reforms benefiting a small few, including a complete privatisation of land ownership and state businesses. The Democratic party is still under sanctions for corruption by the US State Department.
The Socialist Party under Edi Rama, the current Prime Minister, came to power in 2013. He is the only Prime Minister to win four consecutive terms. He has adopted a neo-liberal economic policy which reduces public spending and promotes public-private partnerships. Rama was forced to fire his Deputy Prime Minister earlier this year, after a corruption investigation and violent clashes with protesters demanding his removal. Many now blame Rama for continuing widespread corruption and not making needed improvements to basic services from healthcare to pensions.
The agreement of the Socialist Party government and the opposition Democratic Party on the luxury tourist development has reinforced the perception that Albania’s two dominant political parties support the same political and economic model. As a result, people have taken to the streets, throwing fireworks at the prime minister’s residence, calling for revolution and demanding that both Rama and Berisha be held accountable with chants of “Rama in prison, Berisha in prison.” It shows that the dissatisfaction is not only directed at the current government, but at the entire political establishment.
Protester Leand Lakrori said of the Zvernec project, “This is the apotheosis of what has been happening in Albania for the last 35 years. So today, enough is enough.”
“I really think we need a big change right now because our country doesn’t feel like it’s protecting us or serving its own people,” added protester Estela Ujka.
Lëvizja BASHKË, of the Together Movement, told British Socialist Worker, “the protest is not simply an angry reaction to an opaque tourism plan or the next oligarch. It is against an economic model that accumulates through the expropriation of residents.”
Although there are different parties and elections, the V-Dem Institute calls Albania “an electoral autocracy,” where major institutions, including courts, are controlled by the party in power.
This Thursday, the twelfth day in a row of protests brought tens of thousands back on the streets. Protesters hope sustained pressure will eventually force Rama from office. But the prime minister has shown no signs of backing down.
To win the “revolution” protesters want would mean a larger popular uprising that disrupts business as usual. The current lack of leadership in the movement also limits its effectiveness. In Albania, the two main trade union confederations are perceived as close to the major political parties. As a result, the mobilisation has been led mainly by residents, activists and civic organisations. Demonstrating a continuing capacity to build in face of government opposition and incorporating broader working class demands would help bring out the power of organized workers despite their leadership.
Recently established political parties that support the protests are small, lack resources, and hold opposing ideological positions. The Together Movement ( Lëvizja BASHKË ), is a grassroots left progressive movement with an uncompromising stance. They have previously worked with various groups of striking workers. The Albania Becomes (Shqipëria Bëhet) and Opportunity (Mundësia) parties are on the center-right and are more willing to compromise with the two major parties.
Rama also has international support, importantly from the EU, although the protests are causing some discomfort in Brussels causing it to caution the government to address its citizens’ concerns about environmental protections as part of its obligations to join the EU. Both major parties support EU membership and Albania is a member of NATO.
While this movement may not bring down the current government, militants within it could use the moment to organize a lasting political alternative supporting the fight against the development, and the broader fight for fundamental social change.
-Annon Gjorge
Marx21 US 