Opposition coalitions, as democratic fables

2025-01-29 18:47:00, Opinione Ardi Stefa

Opinion from Ardi Stefa

Currently, the question is not how many parties will form an opposition coalition, but what this coalition will do. Because politics is not arithmetic and forming a sum is not simply a matter of mathematical operations.

Meanwhile, Albania faces a serious problem: that of political imbalance, which has direct consequences on the way democracy itself functions. And this is due to the fact that so far we have only one ruling party, the one that governs us.

The party that governs Albania today, if we analyze the percentages of voter turnout; the percentage with which it won power, etc., is in fact a minority, or simply represents the strongest minority, despite the scandals that have erupted and that it has been facing for years.

However, even though we have a government that is constantly attacked by scandals from its political family and from the official opposition, I don't think there has ever been a government in these 34 years that has such a dominant position on the political scene and feels so confident to the point of arrogance.

And this is not because social discontent does not exist, on the contrary, discontent is at its maximum, but simply because disappointment and discontent are not translated or converted into support for the opposition, into support for an alternative governing proposal, but are fragmented into opposition variants.

In fact, as the election date approaches, the disappointment will be such that I fear that the percentage of non-participation in the vote will increase.

Against this image of the ruling party's dominance, what we have is an opposition in crisis. From the DP's difficulty in being what it promised: bigger, stronger, more united, more open and growing as a governing alternative to a party disintegrated into different pieces and variations, all of which together are incapable of bringing a new spirit of change.

Opposition coalitions, as democratic fables

In this political landscape, I can understand the voices calling for the opposition, fragmented into seven or more parties, to unite and cooperate to overthrow Rama. To some extent, what they say has value. But, to some extent.

Because, as clear as it is that the prerequisite for a threatening alternative to the government is the joining of forces and the unification of the electorate, it is equally obvious that this in itself is not enough.

Because, quite simply, politics is not just arithmetic. And it is certainly not just addition.

Because, if political forces "unite" only mechanically, without a clear strategy, without a program and without a sustainable political proposal and a concrete political contract for Albania, they will simply create a larger political formation, electoral this time, but which will have the same serious deficits in strategy and program. A coalition incapable of bringing about change, of inspiring, motivating and sensitizing society to embrace its political proposal.

And society will understand it and perhaps not follow it. Because what the Albanian opposition lacks today is not the "geometry" or the "mosaic" of the democratic fable, but the content, the essence.

This means that if any coalition has something to say, it must say it in the most credible and appropriate way to be a governing alternative.

And a possible governing alternative cannot be outdated in ideas, thoughts, proposals; in rhetoric and attitudes, in outdated people and chronic losers, in denunciations, in accusations and counter-accusations without providing solutions, in threats and gnashing of teeth. An opposition that seeks to come to power must truly want to come to power.

It requires a new strategy, program, spirit, people, ideas and rhetoric. It requires real investment in the future and not the same failed strategy of past years. Failed strategies and outdated political language no longer have an impact on Albanian society, nor do they suggest the gray area, much less bring it closer to the opposition.

And, since the current Albanian opposition is dominated by parties and many politicians who have governed in different periods, a certain assessment is also required from them themselves: "What have they learned?", "What are they self-criticizing about?", "What would they do differently?", "Why would they do it better now?", etc., etc.

As long as all of this is missing and as long as the discussion about opposition leadership by all parties is limited to just one cause "let me live my myth as a potential prime minister" and not to who can truly represent a different political space and historical dynamic for the country, any discussion about the arithmetic union of opposition parties without political content is meaningless. /CNA