Why Berisha should retire

2024-06-19 13:37:00, Opinione Andi Bushati

Andi Bushati

Sali Berisha is once again placed, as has often happened throughout his career, in the paradox between personal pride and the obligation that overcomes this personal selfishness, which a political leader must have. The decision of the British court (sympathy for those who insist on labeling it as a commission), that the measure of the London authorities to prevent him from entering this country is right, has once again confused these ill-defined borders.

On the one hand, as a person, citizen Sali is legitimate to follow all levels, all commissions and courts to oppose what he considers unjust. He can denounce with arguments all violations of the process, be it ridiculous details that connect him with a suspicious ex-immigrant who broke a door with kicks, be it political decisions that "if the sanction against him is removed, Britain's reputation will fall." of the Great".

But, on the other hand, Berisha, as the leader of the opposition, has no right to hold the entire PD hostage in order to preserve his legitimate dignity.

If you look at yesterday's news of the Special Migration Appeals Committee (SIAC), you will notice that it became a central topic. All the media that serve the government dealt with it widely, but even the few close to the opposition could not avoid it. Despite the temperatures over 35 degrees and the fever of the European still unquenched, the headlines about the sanctioning of Berisha became the main refrain of this beginning. This was exposed to such a large extent that it seemed as if the democratic leader had been declared "non grata" for the first time.

This is precisely the point where he becomes a burden to the opposition. By insisting on continuing his personal legal battle against the Secretary of State in the US and the Home Office in England, he keeps alive as a topical issue an event that is not at all in favor of his own political family.

Three years ago it was different. Since this became the pretext that a group of internationally lobbied diplomats in cooperation with Rama and his puppets in DP, used "non grata" to get Berisha out of it, it was up to the latter not only to close the battle own political and moral, but also to bring to light all the doubts about its sanctioning.

But now times have changed. Berisha won the trust of his party. He was reinstated by plebiscite at the head of the Democratic Party. Those who feared lest the embassy would treat them like sheep eating grass, returned like the prodigal son to his fold. Those who continued to support the exclusion were left not only without votes, but also without a stamp.

If you add to these the discovery of scandals like that of McGonigal, where the damage to the opposition was paid for by Tirana, or statements like those of the controversial Rik Grenell, who, as the former head of Trump's services, claimed that he had never seen a "Berisha" file, adding to the suspicions that it was assembled quickly after the last elections, it is easier to understand that the democratic leader managed to undo the disaster that was projected on him.

Today, the legitimacy, purity and justice of the sanction "non grata" has become more doubtful than ever, even more so when the partners of the Americans and the British are Albanian politicians who have proven crimes, thefts and connections with thugs, much more terrible than the ones about which Berisha is mentioned in the western documents.

In these conditions, the question naturally arises: what is the value of continuing the battle to discredit the "non grata" decision? Where is the interest in pursuing the legal battle started in June 2021, in Paris, against Anthony Blinken's firm and the one launched a year later, against the Home Office?

Of course, as a free citizen of this country, Berisha is within his right to continue this effort, which he will probably not be able to win as long as he lives. But as the leader of the opposition, he has a greater obligation than his own pride. He should withdraw from both the proceedings against the American and British administrations if only for the simple fact that they no longer have any value other than to be used as ammunition by the government's propaganda artillery.

From now on, Sali Berisha will no longer be judged based on the labels "grata" or "non grata", but on the quality of the opposition he makes to the regime in force. In this view, any issue, even manipulated, that serves to deviate from this objective, damages the opposition. Therefore, the time has come for Berisha to restrain his personal ego in function of the political goal./CNA