The upcoming May 11, 2025, local elections in Albania are unfolding in a charged atmosphere, one where political tension, citizen fatigue, and the erosion of ethical standards have become dominant phenomena. In this electoral season, the contrasts have never been starker: a ruling Socialist Party, consumed by the complacency of long-term power, and an opposition struggling to reconstruct its image, still burdened with old wounds.
Gaffes as a Symptom of Narrative Control Lost
Prime Minister Edi Rama, renowned for his mastery over public space and narrative building, has found himself entangled in a series of serious gaffes. His inflammatory remarks against men („cyryk”), his trivialization of sensitive issues like autism, are not mere slip-ups but reflections of a loss of control over political communication and a deepening arrogance in governance.
In his latest „Sy m`Sy”; communication, Rama acknowledged his mistake for using the term „political autism,” offering an apology, an act he presented as rare in Albanian politics. Yet, at the same time, he downplayed the criticisms, dismissing them as „nonsense and chatter,” reverting to the same contemptuous tone that political analyst Fatos Lubonja has long denounced as a culture of ignorance.
According to Lubonja, denigration, the absence of dialogue, and the systematic ignoring of the opposition are unchanging features of Albanian politics over the last 30 years. In this context, the current campaign is not an exception but rather a reinforcement of the decline in public discourse standards, where the adversary is branded as „trash,” „swamp,” or „garbage” — terms that speak less to political substance and more to a profound crisis in Albania’s deliberative democracy.
The Opposition: Forced Discipline and its Limits
On the other side, the restructured opposition, led by Sali Berisha and advised by
American strategist Chris LaCivita, is trying to present itself with a more disciplined profile and more concrete messages, such as raising pensions, wages, and subsidizing agriculture.
However, cases like Adriana Kalaja — the candidate caught promising money in
exchange for votes, a criminal act punishable by law — show that the change in style is superficial and that the old clientelist culture remains dominant.
Furthermore, Berisha’s defense of Kalaja’s actions, interpreting them as rewards for her staff members rather than vote-buying, signals that, at its core, informality remains the modus operandi of Albanian politics, undermining any efforts to create a cleaner, more accountable political system.
Individual Gaffes as a Reflection of the Old Political Culture
Edona Bilali’s video, where she used a hospitalized patient to elicit votes, and Adriana Kalaja’s public offers of money, are not isolated incidents; they are manifestations of the erosion of ethical standards in political communication and action.
The swift and intense backlash from social media showed a slight shift in citizen awareness, although the lack of institutional intervention to punish such acts deepens the public’s distrust in both the legal order and the electoral process.
In a deeper analysis, the May 11th elections reflect a collision between:
- The old model, where politics operates on the basis of arrogance, the dismissal of criticism, and the instrumentalization of the citizen as an electoral tool;
- The new, emerging model, where citizen reactions to gaffes and scandals may signal a new demand for ethics, responsibility, and genuine political dialogue.
- The future of Albanian politics will depend on whether citizens will remain passive in the face of arrogance, or transform this disillusionment into pressure for structural change, rather than mere cosmetic shifts.
If the degradation of political language and the buying of votes continue unchecked, Albania’s democracy risks descending into an irreversible crisis of trust. However, if citizen reactions are channelled into an active demand for change, then perhaps — albeit slowly — Albania’s political culture can enter a new phase of democratic awakening.
Written by our correspondent A.T.
