Albania's two oppositions

2026-06-08 18:35:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

In Albania, two oppositions are increasingly emerging, which could soon clash more fiercely with each other than with the government.

On one side is the opposition of the young protesters. A spontaneous opposition, not yet fully organized, but with a clear demand: New faces, new ideas and perhaps a new political model. This opposition is not only against the government. It is against the entire political establishment of the last 35 years. Against a system where the government and the opposition have produced the same figures, the same conflicts and the same disappointments.

On the other side is the traditional opposition, led by Berisha and the political structures that have claimed to represent civic discontent for decades. For this opposition, every protest against the government is seen as an opportunity to return to power. Not necessarily to change the system, but to once again realize the well-known political rotation.

This is precisely where the great handicap of the new movement arises.

Whenever a civic protest emerges, traditional parties try to embrace it. At first glance, it looks like support. In reality, it is often an attempt to channel the energy of the revolt towards their own political objectives. Protesters demand a change of system; old parties demand a change of government. Protesters demand the replacement of the political elite; traditional parties demand the replacement of the ruling elite with themselves.

Will the new opposition manage to form an independent and successful movement against the establishment?
Or will the old opposition use this energy as a springboard to bring back to power the names that Albanians have known for decades?

There is a third possibility, perhaps the most cynical. That the traditional opposition will not really support the protest once it realizes that it cannot be controlled by them. At that point, the protest could become a threat not only to the government, but also to the old opposition itself.

A movement that challenges the establishment challenges the entire establishment. It doesn't ask whether someone is in power or in opposition. It asks who produced the state the country is in.

This is why the next battle could be fought between two oppositions: one that seeks to replace the government and one that seeks to replace the political class.
And this will be in favor of the government.

If the new opposition manages to maintain its independence, organization, and purpose, it could become the most serious challenge the Albanian establishment has ever known.

If not, the protest risks ending like many other protests before it.