Author: Sefer Selimi Jr.
And suddenly the debate over the “first Albanian Prime Minister” began. Admittedly, this was a political PR ploy that took everyone by surprise, and since it flashed like lightning in the clear skies, the reactions at first were mixed, rigid, and hesitant by most of the public. Then a wave of support, accusations, and objections continued until the idea was ridiculed. But the surprise was not because the idea was being thrown out because it had never been ruled out, much less as a “dream” but by the fact that such an idea was put forward by the Democratic Union for Integration (DUI), party which on the 18th anniversary of its founding turned 16 years in power.
In addition, rightly so, the skepticism about this “bombastic” statement and the powerful campaign being built around it is precisely in its sincerity. Discarded in this form, everyone knows that she is insincere and only aims to defocus the debate on issues that are inherent and for which the DUI must be held accountable for its governance. The best propaganda is built on simple ideas, which can easily divide people into pros and cons, them, and us and in which there is very little room for constructive debate without declaring the other a traitor.
Not more than a year ago, the DUI was full of accusations accusing opposition parties of supporting the independent Albanian presidential candidate because they are manipulating citizens, pursuing a policy of patriotic folklore, inciting nationalism and creating new divisions, that such a candidate without broad consensus cannot be done, that, that … It is enough to just come back to see the last election campaign for president and you will hear it from its highest exponents political why then by the opposition and today by DUI itself such a proposal is insincere and manipulative with the feelings of citizens.
This debate is staged to overshadow any other kind of debate, so the best way to avoid falling prey to this trick and to put the DUI in front of the responsibility of the electoral promises and the challenge for the next government program is to pass with a simple answer: The first Albanian Prime Minister ?! Yes, of course yes, now let us talk about serious things!
Before DUI, but also other Albanian parties and not only them, to talk about the Albanian Prime Minister must begin with the restructuring of the concept and political action. It is the feudal mentality that dominates the organization of political parties and as long as a professional, a professor, a doctor or a student of excellence is valid as long as there are votes in the family, neighborhood or city the parties will be excluded for real quality. The meritocracy over professional values within political parties, especially the DUI, which is consequently reflected in the representatives of the vertical and horizontal of power, is a “dream” far removed from the post of prime minister himself.
Political parties have a responsibility not to build the expectations and mentality of new generations on the sense of victimization, inferiority and partisan clientelism. Approaching the highest position in the state executive through this form is derogatory because it strips the first Albanian prime minister of any individual and professional value, leaving only the symbolism, a symbolism that can leave a bitter taste – as he has left several times in past.