Skenderbeu, Ismail Beu and Edibeu

2024-09-01 21:35:00, Opinione Lutfi Dervishi

The September of Skanderbeg, the National Hero

The inauguration of the Skanderbeg statue at Hora e Arbëreshë in the presence of the Speaker of the Assembly, Spiropali, has opened an absurd debate.

People of the craft (sculptor, one step higher than painter) say that the portrait of the Albanian National Hero, the Athlete of Christ, the first creator of the Euto-Atlantic alliance, resembles Edi Rama, the current prime minister, more than Skenderbeu. It is not Edi Rama's fault that he resembles Skenderbut, just as it is not his fault that he resembles another great historical figure of Albania, Ismail Beu.

It seems that the longer he stays in power, Edi Rama (he has now entered his 12th year as prime minister and the 25th year since he first became a minister, longer than Brezhnev) the more he embodies Skenderbeu in his portrait and Ismail Qemali, thus fusing the past and the present into a single major figure for Albanians.

The transformation began quietly, with the shedding of the beard. When Edi Rama shared his mind about this, the complaints were increasing more than the euros that are thrown into construction in Tirana. "The boss is starting to look like Ismail Qemali,".

Edi Rama, in the background the portrait of Ismail Qemali

For those who don't know, Ismail Bey declared independence in Vlora on November 28, 1912. The resemblance became so obvious that everyone raised their eyebrows and opened their mouths. But with Ismail bey, it's not just the visual resemblance. Rama, who coincidentally is also an MP from Vlora, began to carry the weight that befits his stature and caliber, the weight of a man who, in another life, could have been at the head of the Albanians as during the confrontation with the Ottomans in the century of the 15th century as well as with the difficult birth of the Albanian state at the beginning of the 20th century.

Great luck for the country that today has at the head of affairs a man who sympathizes with the fighting spirit of Skanderbeg and the wisdom and diplomacy of Ismail Qemali. It's like discovering the "Albanian da Vinci Code", a perfect combination of Skenderbeu's coat with the power of the pen, and all of this today we have thanks to the decision to grow a beard and the carving of a statue.

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Some call it coincidence. Another feels it is fate. But here, the boundaries between history and reality are mixed more easily and faster than the water that is thrown to "wash" the milk.

If Skanderbeg saved Europe from the Ottoman Empire and Ismail Qemali saved Albania from oblivion, it is lucky that Edi Rama is now on the front line, saving the European Union from apathy and slumber.

Critics, who see only mourning, instead of rejoicing, anathema. The opposition leader has called the statue in Italy a "shameful, anti-national act," likening it to replacing Bolívar with Escobar. Meanwhile, sculptors and art critics scratch their heads, and have no answer to the question why a politician of today should be immortalized in bronze with a helmet with goat horns or why the Prime Minister's beard looks so much like Ismail Bey?

Nonsensical question. The real question is: Why did it take so long to get here?

Edi Rama, in the background the National Hero, Skenderbeu

In a country where mythology and reality shake the same glass of brandy, it is tragic that today's leader took so late the features of the heroes of Albania's history. The great Albanian trinity—Skënderbeu, Ismail Beu and Edibeu—each holding the European front has saved the country from the biggest waves of history; the 15th century, the 20th century and the 21st century.

As the sun sets on the statue of Skënderbej in Skënderbej square in Tirana, Ismail Bey in Vlora and Edibeut in Hora e Arbëreshëve in Italy, the question is Edi Rama the heir of these legendary figures, is a common rhetorical question. Edi Rama has only been in power for 12 years, while Skenderbeu stayed for 25 years. History is being made, in one way or another, and whether with sword, pen or beard, Albania continues to give the old continent, saviors.

In the capital, a tower is being built (next to the former 15-story building) that will display the portrait of Edi Rama. And since there is also a statue of the hero in Skanderbeg Square - the two big figures will look like twins who were given immortality by history.

And as one Lab would say with characteristic humor, "At this rate, by next year, if you remove your beard, add some wrinkles, put a scarf on your head, Rama may start to look like Saint Teresa. "

After all, this land has always been a wonderland.