Is Rama afraid of silent revenge on May 11?

2025-05-05 22:39:00, Opinione Armand Shkullaku

The point at which discontent merges with the need for punishment, in a submissive society, is difficult to predict. In the final days of the campaign, Edi Rama is displaying an unbridled rage towards anyone who questions the results of the polls that show him and the Socialist Party as the winners. This outburst against commentators and journalists, free to analyze the electoral figures from their own perspective, although unacceptable, could be understood if it came from the opposition. But no. It emanates from the head and mouth of the prime minister, leaving the taste of an error on the object.

Why does Edi Rama worry about comments on polls, when what matters are the electoral figures? Normally he should feel calm as long as the polls are in line with his expectations. He says he will reap a historic victory, and has even projected it with the one of 1997 when he was an immigrant in France, and the Larushan figures on many screens support his optimism. Rama says that the polls present reality, that he has no opponents, that he is the only one that Albanians trust, etc., etc. So why should he irritate the delicate nerves of those who question the figures when he himself knows the result?

Leaving aside the possibility of error, the Prime Minister's rant against journalists, in front of the undeserving eyes of citizens, can be explained by the fact that he is aware of what those polls are and that any objective analysis of them refutes his propaganda of successful governance. Not to mention those screens that once conducted polls that the Italians wanted Edi Rama for prime minister, even polls that start from a professional premise present serious anomalies. Rama knows this very well, which is why his calm is broken when he is told that he himself says he does not see the comments made about his electoral figures.

A society that, when tested by international pollsters on non-political issues, is the most dissatisfied in the region with its governance and then much more satisfied when asked on the eve of the elections by local pollsters, demonstrates the fear and insecurity of this society that has been arbitrarily governed for 12 years by a single man. The Prime Minister knows that the polls, although they are accurate, do not capture this deformation of a society that is not free and that is not allowed to vote freely. His concern is precisely related to the fact that any comment, analysis or criticism that highlights this deformation can arouse a backlash from citizens. Fear and insecurity cannot last forever.

Rama is likely afraid of a silent revenge at the ballot box. What people dare not say in front of an interviewer, they can do with a sign on the ballot. The need to kill their fear can turn into an act to kill a man's long rule. And the more voices testify to the pressure with jobs, with money, with thugs, with promises and deceptions, with propaganda and threats, the more obvious the deformation of the will of the voters becomes. Therefore, the prime minister has no way of finding peace in the poll figures, as long as he is aware that they are the fruit of an autocratic regime and not the result of good governance.

He is hurt more by the comments than the polls caress him, for the simple fact that at the end of 12 years, not only his opponents but also the socialists have every right in the world to take silent revenge. In three elections they voted as socialists and got in return thieves and bandits who wreaked havoc with their taxes. They voted for a leftist model, for more equality and solidarity, and for over a decade they have been counting the villas and mansions of the governors, the millions spent on clothing and travel, the bottles of wine and the NBA hoops where the socialist sheikh-prime minister has fun with his family. Do they have the right to take revenge, even if silently, when they go to the ballot boxes?

What about those parents whose dignity has been reduced to ashes, begging their children to vote for a job, a teacher's salary, a legalization permit or a disability pension? What about those who don't dare to raise their heads when the arrogant representative of the Renaissance threatens them with their daily bread? Can these people one day decide to, at least in silence, bury their fear and take revenge?

Citizens who punish their governments with votes when they do not fulfill their promises and even more so when they abuse and steal, are normal in any democratic society. Could this happen this time in Albania, as quietly and without noise as the electoral campaign itself is closing? This is the question that disturbs Edi Rama's sleep and there is no poll that can serve as a somnifer. The point when popular discontent can merge with the need for punishment, in a subjugated society, is difficult to predict. Therefore, the comfort of polls cannot overcome the act of silent revenge. Rama shouts to take heart from his own voice.