Letter to first-time voters!

By Ervin Salianji/

Despite the aging population, largely due to emigration, around 115,000 young people are voting for the first time in 22 days. This age group, which was dominant until a decade ago, 18 to 20 years old, although it has shrunk, has not only the numbers necessary to determine the direction of Albania, but also the strength to influence and radiate its judgment.

Someone finishing high school or just starting university is completely sovereign to make an important decision on May 11th.

It only takes a moment to wake up. It takes a moment to clear away the fog and smoke that has been produced by the only efficient industry that the socialists, or rather the Renaissance, put into operation in these 12 years, which is propaganda.

Edi Rama has done everything to treat a first-time voter as a tabula rasa, as a homo sapiens, without interests, without curiosity, without projects, without dreams, without aspirations.

The autocrat wants this voter, this high school graduate or student, to be a mass without memory, without analysis, without reflection. And he believes that he can win them over very simply, with tricks in clothing, with jokes, by behaving like a rock star, or by taking some famous singers on his side.

Edi Rama has constantly insulted them, treating them as if they don't care about how the country is governed, that they don't care about corruption or connections to crime.

And the models he has chosen to promote are another mockery of young people, of first-time voters.

 

I have always worked with young people, and I know very well that Edi Rama is wrong with this disregard.

Their analytical power is higher than the average Renaissance government, and far higher than that of many of the cronies surrounding the autocrat.

It's been 6 months since I've been prevented, forbidden from engaging in politics because that's what Edi Rama wanted, but under other circumstances I would be with them every day in this decisive battle for the country, to stop the final fall into the abyss.

With this letter, I want to say two words to first-time voters.

Bad governance, crime and corruption are related to you and have to do with you more than anyone else. Because Edi Rama is thus undermining the chances and potential that your country would offer. He is damaging the path you must follow to build the future wherever you aspire. You have every right to claim and demand a homeland where there is no theft in every tender, where criminals do not become MPs and mayors, where lists do not determine gangs, where careers are not made with parties, where the patronage is not the bey of the neighborhood.

You already know, and you will also encounter it in textbooks and lectures, that it is not democracy when the Prime Minister orders the imprisonment of an opposition MP, for a denunciation, for a press conference. This is not the system, the state that you deserve. And this issue concerns you.

The injustice that bad governance creates concerns you more than anyone else. When you see your parent struggling and not making ends meet, and if you cover the bills and expenses, there is nothing left, when you see your grandfather or grandmother counting pennies and measuring them carefully to buy at the market, store or pharmacy, when you notice that some others connected to the government are getting second and third place, it is you who must react. Who else will do it if not you.

When you see your father throwing away his produce because he can't sell it, when the greenhouse is damaged and no one subsidizes it, when there are only apples or tomatoes left in stock, when you don't even cover your costs with the amount you sell, when it has become impossible to increase the number of livestock and they are decreasing year by year, this is a situation that directly affects you, more than anyone else. Because this situation is ruining your future. If you don't speak up, who else will?

When you notice that taxes are high, oil is hard to come by, when energy bills are a pain, when there is no increase in work but more taxi drivers who come around like hyenas, when fines are popping up everywhere, what are you going to do? Can you say that this has nothing to do with you?!

When you become a student and have to prioritize making ends meet, then you find time to learn and delve deeper into your field, profession, or knowledge, doesn't this make you angry? Does this situation apply to you?

Should all this be overturned? All this comes from that guy with glasses and a hat who goes out with Noiz there, who makes jokes with the yard clowns. He wants you not to think, he wants you to judge him by his sneakers, not by the decisions he makes. You know that this is a mockery directly in your back. You don't have to keep it. You have the power to make a difference. With your vote on May 11. That is the day of one of the strongest acts you will take, of which you will be proud one day. Not only for yourself. But also for your grandparents, for your parents, for your friends and acquaintances. For Albania. The country has its eyes on you!