Rama's outbursts after Veliaj's arrest/How the psychotherapist explains it

2025-02-20 13:23:00, Politikë CNA

Rama's outbursts after Veliaj's arrest/How the psychotherapist

February 10 was a difficult day for Prime Minister Edi Rama, who was forced to urgently return to Tirana after news of the arrest of Mayor Erion Veliaj, who is accused of corruption and money laundering.

The Prime Minister had several outbursts during a conversation with his followers the day before, saying he was emotional, while launching a harsh attack on the prosecutor and the judge.

How does psychotherapist Neli Demi explain Rama's outbursts?

For Birn, he has stated that his reactions after Veliaj's arrest are called emotional appeals in political psychology, a technique that aims to divert attention from rational arguments and orient it towards instinctive and emotional reactions.

"This behavior, intentionally, is usually used to show dominance, to avoid the perception of weakness and to give the message that he is still in control of the situation," said Demi, unsure whether in the first reactions, the prime minister's verbal and body language were completely calculated.

Demi further analyzes Rama's speech as a combination of "emotional language, verbal aggression and a dual strategy to protect himself, without openly appearing against SPAK."

"In this way, he is aiming to activate the instincts of solidarity and empathy in the population that will actually soon be voters, while trying to create a narrative where justice has become unjust," he added.

Even Ergys Mërtiri, a sociologist by profession and a critic of Prime Minister Edi Rama, analyzes the latter's reactions in light of an attempt to influence public opinion, writes Birn.

"Veliaj's arrest affects his image by exposing him as the head of a group of corrupt politicians, which certainly tarnishes him in the eyes of public opinion," said Mërtiri.

"It presents him as weak in front of his people and the electorate, as a prime minister whose associates are arrested by the prosecution in his office. For this reason, he has to compensate for this with aggressive language to show that he is not weak and that he does not even ask about SPAK and GJKKO," he added.

Demi and Mërtiri, however, notice a major contradiction in Rama's recent speeches, where on the one hand he attacks the judge and prosecutor in the Veliaj case and on the other hand he portrays himself as the "owner" of justice reform.

"An open attack on SPAK would sound like hypocrisy, and for this reason, immediately after the initial aggressive reaction, he tried to return to defending his 'property'," Demi analyzes.

"This seems like a familiar technique of political disinformation, where the political protagonist tries to keep both sides of a debated issue to minimize political damage," he added./ CNA