Rama's idea of ​​a "Bektashi State" is criticized as "narcissistic and dangerous"

Prime Minister Edi Rama's proposal for the creation within Albania of a sovereign state of the "Bektashi Order" is criticized as a strange, dangerous idea driven by the need to attract the attention of international media from analysts and researchers.

In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sunday, Prime Minister Edi Rama declared that Albania was ready to transform the World Bektashi Order into "a sovereign state within the Albanian capital", similar to the Vatican.

This previously unheard of idea was previously warned by Rama in an interview with the New York Times, according to which the purpose of this microstate was to promote a tolerant Islam.

The Bektashi patriarch, Haxhi Dede Edmond Brahimaj, applauded Rama's idea and said in a statement that the 'new state' was not about politics, but about spiritual leadership.

"The Bektashi order, known for its message of peace, tolerance and religious harmony, will gain Vatican-like sovereignty, allowing it to autonomously govern religious and administrative affairs," the statement released to the media said.

However, Rama's idea of ​​a "sovereign Bektashi state" was met with frowns and is regarded by political analysts as strange and absurd.

"This strange idea for such a country that has to do with the territorial integrity of the country, that requires changes to the Constitution, this man does not consult with any Albanian, but declares it all over the world, ignoring not only us who consider us enemies , but also those Albanians who support him or are part of his government," publicist Fatos Lubonja told BIRN.

"This shows the level of growth of authoritarianism, that is, the decline of democracy in Albania," he added.

The Bektashi World Order is a tariqat of Islam, which established its center in Albania in the years between the two World Wars. Among the Albanians, they have always had an important presence, being considered the fourth religion in terms of size and an important part of state formation and the National Renaissance. According to the last census, about 115,000 people or 4.8 percent of the population declare themselves as Bektashi in Albania.

Afrim Krasniqi, director of the Institute for Political Studies, also considers the declaration of a sovereign Bektashi state as "a dangerous idea".

"A typical case to show how Albania continues to be run as a personal state and that political decision-making is completely non-institutional," said Krasniqi.

Beyond the statements from New York, the project is covered by legal and constitutional ambiguity, while the Albanian government has not made public any additional data.

The proposal for the moment has been detailed in only a few lines by the Bektashian Grandmother in a statement to the media. They clarify that they will be a "spiritual entity, citizenship in the new sovereign state of the Bektashi Order will be limited only to members of the clergy and individuals engaged in state administration. The government of the state will be led by the spiritual leadership of the Order, with the Grandfather (Dedebaba) and a council that will oversee the religious and administrative functions".

But the researcher Enis Sulstarova says that the plan cannot be treated so simply and that the idea itself is anti-national.

"It's something very strange, very absurd and deeply anti-national," says Sulstarova, while clarifying that micro-states are actually remnants of feudalism in Europe and cannot be creations of modern states.

"The modern state has popular sovereignty, theoretically it originates from a certain people, therefore the micro-state (without territory and without people) contradicts it," he added.

Sulstarova also explains that theses for a political organization along religious lines have always been rejected in Albania and this idea is a dangerous precedent "because it contradicts the Albanian national line from the Renaissance to our time".

Contrary to Rama's claim, Sulstarova says that this idea goes against what is promoted as religious harmony in the country, as it creates a divisive precedent.

Provocative ideas that attract attention are a feature of Rama's 11-year rule, and this of the Bektash sovereign state is no exception. According to analysts, Rama's statement stems more from his need for attention than from a studied or thought-out project.

"We are dealing with an attempt by the prime minister to draw attention from internal developments and to become attractive in the international media," said Krasniqi, who added that the latter seems like a slander of the moment.

The same opinion is shared by Fatos Lubonja, who estimates that this could be a media operation to divert attention from a series of articles in the international media, which see Albania governed by Rama as a "narcoshtet".

"Narcissistic smokescreen to stay in the limelight or distract from accusations in the world media of building a narco-state," he said.

The researcher Sulstarova also commented that Prime Minister Rama sees Albania as an exotic or touristic country, where foreigners can come and visit a Bektashi microstate.

"We want the politicians to create a normal state, not a state of wonders," said Sulstarova, worried that politics is corrupting religion by diverting it from its main purpose./BIRN