Why a woman wearing a headscarf is running for the Socialist Party

2025-04-04 17:05:00, Politikë Edlira Dyrnishaj

Since my candidacy for MP in the ranks of the Socialist Party was announced, I have received many questions, comments and public reactions. Some have openly supported me, others have expressed doubts, and there have even been those who have distorted my purpose. The most common question I hear is: “How can you wear a headscarf and be part of a left-wing, secular, European party?”

For this reason, I feel the need to speak out. Not to justify myself, but to clarify my position and to turn the attention where it should be: to the citizen and the common future.

I am not in politics to represent religion. But I am not here to hide it either. Faith is a part of me, as are the values ??of equality, social justice and inclusion. I do not believe that we should choose between being a believer and being an active citizen. In an open and democratic society, both are not only possible, but necessary.

The Socialist Party has given me the opportunity to be part of it without asking me to give up anything that I am. This is an example to follow: that involvement in politics should not only happen to those who look “like everyone else”, but to every citizen who has the will, ability and honesty to serve.

I am a candidate because I want to contribute with my voice to more women in politics. For more sensitivity towards ordinary families, towards young people who seek hope, towards women who fight every day to keep everything afloat. I have chosen to be part of a political force that believes in the social state, equality and the European future of Albania.

My headscarf is neither an obstacle nor a flag. It is part of my life. It does not stop me from listening, working, collaborating, proposing and defending the public interest with dignity. Whoever sees me only for this part of my identity, loses the opportunity to see the person, the citizen and the professional.

At the end of the day, we should not be afraid of the differences between us. We should be afraid of exclusion and of judgment without recognition. I am here to build bridges, not to erect walls. And to prove that an Albania for all is possible — when each of us is accepted as we are, and valued for what we can give.

This is my sincere contribution to the Albania of 2030 — where Prime Minister Edi Rama has promised to take it: a European Albania, inclusive and worthy of every one of its citizens./ CNA