Since the first day of the protest, the government's propaganda machine has tried to delegitimize it. First with labels, then with conspiracy theories, and most recently with the circulation of messages claiming that the protest will be canceled or postponed until the fall. The objective is clear: to create confusion, demoralize the protesters, and shift the debate from the reasons for the protest to the protest itself.
But this is only a symptom of a serious illness. We have a government that is trying to control the narrative of the protest. This fact proves to us that the battle is no longer taking place only in the political arena, but also in the information arena. This is where the story of the power of scandals begins.
For more than a decade, Albania, instead of writing history through reforms, has been writing it through scandals. Year after year, the names change, but not the model.
From CEZ to incinerators. From PPPs to towers. From the Port of Durres to strategic investors. From the construction of golden roads to the sale of national natural assets. From patronage to the leakage of personal data. From the election manipulation files of the AKSHI and the violation of national security.
Every year has had its own affair. Every affair has produced another. And every scandal is covered by the next scandal.
This is the governance model. The government simultaneously controls political decision-making, administration, urban planning, building permits, public funds, and the media narrative. Here, transparency is not the rule. It is the exception.
Institutions do not act as control mechanisms. Institutions are mechanisms for formalizing decisions made elsewhere. Democracy is not measured by the number of elections held, but by the ability of institutions to set limits to power.
The rule of law is not proven by punishing the ordinary citizen. It is tested by fearlessly investigating power.
The question here is not how many scandals this government has produced. The question is more dramatic: how is it possible for a country to produce so many scandals, while political accountability does not exist?
This is where the real crisis of the republic begins. Looking deeper, what is happening today in Albania and the Western Balkans cannot be read simply and solely as a classic crisis of corruption or institutional capture.
Various studies describe this phase as the emergence of “digital autocracies.” Here, political control is no longer exercised through overt censorship or physical violence, but through the architecture of information.
Today, technological surveillance, smart camera systems, and artificial intelligence are used. The growth of digital surveillance capabilities, as well as the use of sophisticated manipulation tools on social networks, have created a public space where information is abundant, while the truth becomes increasingly difficult to filter.
In this model, disinformation is not just an external import. It is also a domestic political product. A product linked to the need to control the public agenda and to shift attention away from internal power conflicts.
This is what some international reports describe as a “democratic gray zone.” A system where elections exist, but the digital and communication infrastructure of the state and political actors makes real change of power increasingly difficult.
The irony is that today, even in the face of a massive protest, the government speaks the language of division. Democracy does not work by dividing citizens into good and bad according to their attitude towards the government. Democracy works when there are active and responsible citizens. Precisely, the creation of this democratic civic culture should be the most significant legacy of the Flamingo Revolution.
Democracy works when the government listens to criticism, accepts responsibility, and answers questions with institutions and transparency, not with labels. Citizens' anger is not extinguished by alienating the name of the opponent. Anger is extinguished only by addressing the essence of the reasons that produced it.
The state has a monopoly on the use of force. For this very reason, the standard required of law enforcement agencies is higher. Democracy is not tested when everything is calm. Democracy is tested in times of crisis. That is when it is seen whether the state applies to itself the same standards it demands of its citizens.
The electoral mandate is the foundation of democratic governance. It is the beginning, not the end, of democracy. Between two parliamentary elections, there are intermediate mechanisms. Accountability, public dialogue, political responsibility, and protests are part of these democratic mechanisms.
In a democracy there is always a risk. The risk that the citizens do not understand the government, or that the government does not understand the citizens. We have hundreds of thousands of people who have been protesting for months now. In such conditions a normal democratic government does not just ask “why are they protesting?”, “who is protesting?”, but “why have we not listened?”.
The issue of drug trafficking and the role of Albanian institutions is no longer just a criminal problem. It is now a strategic problem of American national security.
Albania is being discussed in the US Congress due to the great danger posed by corruption and organized crime. The alarm has been raised because the weakening of democratic institutions could harm a NATO ally.
A government that is disconnected from justice and self-restraint may win battles, but it will lose history. Today, Albania is at a historical crossroads. This challenge must be turned into strength. Into a golden opportunity for the consolidation of the rule of law.
