
Former Foreign Minister, Ditmir Bushati, has reacted for the first time regarding the massive protests of young people and citizens who are demanding the removal of Prime Minister Edi Rama.
In a public message, Bushati said he supports the demands of students and young people, while speaking out against acts of violence and, at the same time, against police brutality.
Starting the message from his perspective as a parent, Bushati said that he stands by the young people who seek to build a life with dignity in Albania. As part of the university world, he stated that he supports the demands of the students, describing this generation as a force that refuses to accept what is offered to them as normality.
"As a parent, I am with the young people who seek a life with dignity in their homeland. As a person from the university world, I fully support the demands of the students. The future will be determined by the aspirations, revolt and energy of a generation that refuses to accept what is offered to them as normality. As a citizen, I am against acts of violence and against police brutality," Bushati said.
Referring to the history of the Albanian transition, the former Foreign Minister said that young people have played a role in the country's political turning points, mentioning the protests of 1990 and the developments of 1996. According to him, the failure to take into account the demands of young people in the past has heralded major crises.
Bushati argued that today's protest is related to a broader dissatisfaction with corruption, organized crime, the concentration of power, and economic difficulties.
"Youth demands a new Albania because it rejects the normalization of corruption and organized crime in public life; the excessive personalization of power that treats the homeland as plunder; the predatory capitalism model that produces unaffordable living costs, abandonment of the country, and social polarization," he declared.
The former minister also criticized the way in which, according to him, the reaction to the protests was managed.
He said that attempts to divide young people into “good” and “bad” ones, threatening language and the use of force would not quell the revolt. Bushati also rejected explanations that attribute the protests to foreign factors.
In conclusion, Bushati also addressed the Socialist Party, asking it to reflect on the situation.
"Young people are looking for a new Albania. Now it is the duty of teachers, parents, entrepreneurs, workers, academics, and yes, first of all, of the Socialist Party to rise to the height that the time calls for. The Socialist Party must distinguish what belongs to a political moment from what is owed to Albania," Bushati emphasized.