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Local elections in Albania, DW: Competition of images without political concepts

2023-05-13 13:00:59Politikë SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
Local elections in Albania, DW: Competition of images without political concepts
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Albania votes for mayors on Sunday. Experts for DW: A campaign that appeals to emotions and removes the voter's ability to think clearly.

The campaign for the election of mayors in Albania this year was more like a campaign for parliamentary elections than for local government. The biggest political parties had an intense month of meetings with residents, where more than electoral promises were invested in photographs and videos, where everyone seemed happy and in good spirits. 

No one asked the voters about the problems or concerns of everyday life. In this campaign, long speeches by political leaders were prioritized and a new public relations strategy was observed, which overlooked the important topics that needed to be talked about. promised solution.

"We go ahead, we go ahead, we go ahead and we don't turn our heads back"... Simple verses, to be understood by anyone and tallavá music: this was the song selected by the Albanian Socialist Party for the local elections of the 14 May. The Prime Minister of the country Edi Rama, at the same time the head of this political force, only needed one post of the song on his official Facebook account on April 11, to throw the "hook" and open the first debate of these elections in Albanian public opinion.

Rhetoric without logic or arguments

This is a new "hook" in his PR strategy, which preceded a dynamic campaign of more than a month, with many dances and parties, under the slogan "Never back, only forward". Rama's different strategy comes at a time when these elections are important for the reconfirmation or not of his political power, which has recently been shaken by national and international accusations, from the incinerator affair to the inclusion of the name of his in the corruption file of a senior official of the American FBI.

Rhetoric away from people, according to communication expert Edlira Gjoni, the rhetoric of this campaign has no logic or arguments. "The rhetoric used is what Albanian politicians are comfortable with: the appeal to emotion, fear, anxiety. This rhetoric is the only one that offers common points with the voter: emotion! Because logic, arguments and facts speak of an Albania of luxury where politicians live, and an Albania waiting to get better as if by magic after each pair of elections. And this is Albania where voters live who are numbed by strong doses of propaganda, fear and anxiety, all strong emotions that are evoked by the rhetoric used by each of the parties" - says Gjoni to Deutsche Welle (DW).

While Ervin Goci, professor of Journalism and Communication Sciences and activist of many civil society causes, tells DW that the rhetoric of this campaign is quite different from that of previous years. "I would say that over the years the language of the party in power becomes more and more orchestrated, coded, instrumentalized. For no moment is it allowed to become the property of the public, that is, to turn into a discourse, but it is only inciting, elementary, accompanied by loaded somatic gestures, which aim to empty the word and connect emotionally with the electorate". On the other hand, expert Goci argues that in the opposition direction, the candidates for mayor have more independence from their political leaders and have more space to express their opinions.

Music determines the way the candidate or the party is perceived

The "hook" of the songs The Socialist Party and the coalition "We win together" were divided into two camps even when it came to the selection of an identifying song for the campaign. The first chose a tallavá song, while the second a song of rebellion and resistance. "I think that the song of the Socialist Party is well studied, which cannot but remain in your mind as a motive. It is a musical mix fabricated together with the demographic composition of the participants in the clip, it is a literal packaging where popular folk is mixed with the party logo, it is some attempt to make confusion, to avoid the real debate with the taxpayers. On the other hand, the opposition has chosen the path of the engaged singer Renis Gjoka, which is actually a continuation of the protests before the elections, but I do not see the song being integrated with the message or the semantics of the campaign.

Even for John, the selection was not accidental. "It may seem as if music has no particular importance in the electoral campaign, but the opposite is true. Music defines the way a candidate or party is perceived and has historically been used for big issues. The current choice of SP is a sin at the expense of the power of music and why it was used in history. We have a transition from the campaign with "Wind of change", "Don't stop", "We are the champions", "The final countdown" or even the Albanian songs, which have carried strong messages of change or hope, and now we go down to the tallavá song and the dances in the squares and flower gardens, just like in the films of the dictatorship period,

Lack of promises, rhetoric and the new communication strategy mostly from the Socialist Party, seem to have diminished the importance of electoral promises. If Gjon had to choose a political leader or candidate from these elections, for the most positive approach and closer to the citizens, she thinks: None! "There is no accountability, there is no blushing when promises are made. In fact, no promises are made at all. This is a campaign that appeals to emotions and deprives the voter of the ability to think clearly. I would very much like to see on the screen some electoral meeting in the hills of acacia, olives, lake, sun, blue gate or green paradise, where the financial pariah of the country lives. Do they listen to the song of the socialists? Do they dance hand in hand with the chief campaigner? We don't know!" - says Edlira Gjoni./DW


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