The leader of the Democratic Party, Sali Berisha, declared during the National Protest in front of the Prime Minister’s Office that Democrats are today in the final kilometer and that nothing will stop them on the path to victory. In his speech, the opposition leader emphasized that media outlets controlled by those in power attempted this week to hide this message, but it is resonating in every Albanian household. Berisha stated, among other things, that the opposition’s political battle has been long and difficult, but necessary to protect pluralism.
“Dear citizens, democrats, opposition supporters, those present in this square and wherever you may be tonight. Dear Albanians, wherever you are this evening. My warmest greetings to you, invincible and courageous missionaries of the Albanian nation, present tonight on this battlefield square and to all Albanians everywhere.
Honorable leaders of the Democratic Party and allied parties, honorable members of parliament present at this protest. Brothers and sisters, I will begin my speech with a message that this week—terrified by our previous protest—the government-controlled media did everything they could to bury in silence. My message is this: today we are in the final kilometer, and with God’s help, nothing will stop us on our road to victory.
Today we stand before a great triumph. To many, victory may still seem distant when one looks at the crossroads at which Albania finds itself. But my friends, the opposition we have built together in recent years has undoubtedly been a difficult marathon—indeed, a calvary-like marathon filled with the violence of the narco-state, pressures, and Orwellian isolation imposed upon us, but also with stoic resistance and painful sacrifices on our part.
These were years of a fierce confrontation with the regime of the narco-dictator ‘Ramaduro,’ the son of an executioner who signed the hanging of political opponents and who used every method to realize his project of an Albania without opposition. He did everything—used prisons, manipulation, corrupt lobbying—but here we are today, stronger than ever.
From the very first kilometers of our journey, we proved to Albanians and to the world that the project of an Albania without opposition, or with a fake opposition, was their disgrace, a disgrace of history that we would never accept. On this journey, we rose like a phoenix from the ashes, and from the deepest isolation we reached the final kilometer as the political force most supported by Albanians and by sister parties around the world. We reached the final kilometer after mortally wounding the beast of the narco-dictatorship and proving ourselves the only hope for Albanians. God bless!”
