Albania has been protesting for 44 days, supported by the Diaspora, in what has become the most atypical event of the transition period, where many different voices converge on a single point: the departure of Prime Minister Edi Rama. The massive outpouring of citizens onto the boulevard disrupted the usual spectacle and became identified with a symbol that gained international sympathy: the flamingo. Most citizens now find themselves confronted with a prime minister who behaves as though he were the chief of an indigenous tribe, surrounded by an entourage that is equally theatrical and entertaining... while, in parallel with this self-indulgent atmosphere, it is also governing Albania, causing considerable damage.

I will mention just a few names that today represent this entourage and what may be called the ruling primacy of the Republic: Taulant Balla, Ulsi Manja, Albana Koçiu, Ardit Bido, Sara Mile, Zeqine Çaushi, Tërmet Peçi, and so on. It is easy for anyone to find an epithet that, as Noli would say, fits the typology of "The Jokers of Progress" or Ali Asllani's "Excellencies and Their Servants."

It is within this same framework that we hear the absurd claim that flamingos came to Albania only after Mr. Rama came to power, or that the 4.2 million euro donation for the Kashar concert somehow saved Albania from global disgrace. Through an act of tactical theft, our profane Nero supposedly rescued both art and the Republic! Mr. Rama belongs to the generation of an urban culture built on appearances and stunts, one that dominated anti-conformism among the descendants of the 1980s nomenklatura, especially in the capital. It is nothing more than an expression of aesthetic cynicism and a possessive ethic of attention and misanthropy, nourished by an eclectic morality that was passed on to a pseudo-elite, empty of substance, devoid of ideals and, above all, possessing a vision only for itself.

All of this is, to some extent, explainable within the demographic transition of the past 30 years, during which the Republic had to adapt to a new political reality shaped by elites who occupied positions of wealth and power in the vacuum left by the massive exodus of the 1990s and the migration waves that followed. It is ironic how this roulette wheel brought together Edi Rama and Gramoz Ruçi, Edi Rama and Taulant Balla, Edi Rama and the Socialist Party as a whole—two evils combined, where apparently the greater evil is now preparing the funeral of the lesser one. The coffin displayed during the protest was the prologue to this funeral, which sooner or later will haunt the ruling party.

It is a party burdened with many sins and crimes, from its ideological beginnings to the era of co-governance with organized crime as a shareholder in power, most recently thanks to the efforts of Edi Rama and his associates. It is a party that dismantled the few essential achievements of Albania's democratic transition, criminalized and patronized both elections and the economy in pursuit of a single ambition: theft. To be governed today by this lodge of thieves—these trans-urban morphologies in conflict with civilization—is insulting, unacceptable and, above all, undeserved for Albanian society, which, despite its many problems, has overcome the most fragile stage of its development as well as the political complexities inherited from the previous system. To assess the balance sheet of Edi Rama's governments, it is enough to compare the promise of 24-hour water supply with the boast of becoming a satellite superpower. Countless absurdities like these have fed the people with the empty spoon of supposed well-being and prosperity.

Governance in Albania has become a septic biome in which Mr. Rama thrives, where corruption and robbery, arrogance and contempt are blended with the lavender perfume of power. A great stench disguised as elegance. An extension of this same structure is the party opposition led by Sali Berisha, comfortably accommodated within the clientelism of the system. The protest merely sealed the capitulation of this supposed antipode, transforming it into nothing more than a ministry for the opposition. Therefore, the flamingo protest represents Albania's struggle for an exorcism from the demonic influence of Edi Rama and his court jesters. Albania has no need for such Ephialtes. / Respublica