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Elections in a democratic system are the dignity of a people and the responsibility of the opposition.

2025-11-10 12:19:00, Opinione Atë Grigor Pelushi

Elections in a democratic system are the dignity of a people and the

Yesterday evening, like everyone who lives in this country, I was watching the news of the day on one of the country's public television stations. I didn't remember the date when the by-elections were to be held in some of the country's municipalities, but I learned from the announcer that they had been held yesterday, and while I was waiting to hear about the turnout and their progress, I was surprised to learn that the citizens who went to vote were counted on their fingers.

I had never even heard of a contest like this before, when these were normally held over the years, and to tell you the truth, I have never personally abandoned the elections whenever they have been held. I have often been disappointed by the result I expected, but I have never felt a greater civic responsibility than that day, when, of my own free will, I went to vote.

Since yesterday evening I started reflecting on why this disappointment, why there is no debate, why there are no opinions, why a victory is given at the table without offering even the slightest resistance!!!

In any society that aspires to be free, the moment of elections is like a pulse that measures the vitality and vitality of a body. Where the people no longer go to the polls, where the ballot boxes remain empty and the blank sheets speak more than speeches, that is where democracy dies; not with an explosion or an assassination, but with a silence. Elections are not simply an administrative procedure; they are the purest act of sovereignty, the moment when the normal man, who usually feels that he has no power over anything, becomes for a day the sovereign of himself and his country.

Abandoning elections is a form of moral surrender. It arises from disappointment, from fatigue, from the feeling that nothing is going to change, why should I go?! But the history of humanity proves that the greatest changes have arisen precisely when hope seemed to fade.

In ancient Athens, citizens who did not participate in the assembly and in the elections were called “idiotes,” from which the word “idiot” comes in many modern languages. For the ancient Greeks, not participating in public life was a detriment to oneself and to the city; it was a form of moral ignorance. So, political indifference is not neutrality but a betrayal of society itself.

A people who abandon elections abandon the right to complain, to correct, to judge. Participation is the simplest, most peaceful and noblest way to influence the common destiny. In its absence, apathy fills the void, and where apathy reigns, abuse thrives.

The opposition is not a group of "bored people" who oppose for sport; it is the breath of every living political system. It is the critical eye that keeps power from turning into tyranny. When the opposition withdraws from the electoral process or from the institution, it grants power a monopoly on the truth. And where there is only one voice, the terrifying silence of authoritarianism begins.

In Biblical history, we can find a profound parallel in the story of the prophet Eli and his sons, mentioned in the First Book of Samuel. When Eli, the high priest, allowed his sons to abuse their religious power, the people lost faith, and divine justice intervened to correct the injustice. If the voice of the prophets had been silenced, injustice would have become law. The same thing happens in society: when the opposition is silent, injustice becomes normal, and the people lose their moral compass.

The opposition must stand, compete, lose with dignity if necessary, but never retreat. Because its participation keeps alive the idea of ??pluralism; the idea that truth is not a monopoly of anyone. Without the opposition, there is no control, no accountability, and worst of all, there is no hope.

Ultimately, the election is not a political day; it is a national test of conscience. Even if the ballot boxes do not immediately bring the change hoped for, the very fact of participation is a powerful statement: “We are still here. We are not giving up.”

In both antiquity and the Biblical tradition, the peoples who keep the fire of civic responsibility burning are the ones who survive the passage of time. Participation is the highest form of faith; faith that change is possible, faith that the word of man has weight, faith that the future is not predetermined, but built by the hands of its citizens.