E fundit!

22:49 Opinione

What scandals show about the state

Political scandals in Albania do not only show the behavio...

Political Scandals in Albania/Why Do They Recur?

2026-06-18 22:34:00, Opinione CNA

When a scandal breaks out in Tirana, the noise is loud, the statements are harsh, the studios are seething, and social networks are filled with revolt. Then, very quickly, another story comes along to replace the first.

This is precisely where the real problem with political scandals in Albania begins - not only in the fact that they occur frequently, but in the way they are consumed, relativized, and ultimately forgotten without always producing clear accountability.

In Albania, political scandal is no longer simply a deviation from the norm. It often seems to be part of the very functioning of the system.

From debated concessions to clientelistic appointments, from wiretaps that shock public opinion to accusations of corruption, influence peddling, interference in the administration, and political use of institutions, the pattern repeats itself with a regularity that cannot be called a coincidence.

When the same movie has been playing for years, the question is no longer who started it, but why it doesn't stop.

Governance or perception management?
June 17, 14:18

Why political scandals in Albania are becoming normal

Normalization is the biggest scandal. The public hears about dubious tenders, favors to political clients, files that are opened with fanfare and closed in a haze, and after a point a collective fatigue sets in. This fatigue is oxygen for the government.

When citizens are convinced that "everyone is the same," standards fall. When the opposition uses every affair as a daily weapon, but not always as a sustainable cause, the scandal loses its moral force and remains only as material for television consumption. When the majority passes off every accusation as a political attack, even the most serious evidence risks being drowned in the cacophony.

This normalization is fueled by three elements: short public memory, extreme polarization, and the lack of immediate political cost. In many cases, the official involved does not fall immediately. In other cases, he leaves for a short time, then returns in a different role. This sends the message to the public that the scandal is not the end of a career, but simply a crisis management phase./ CNA