'We have the government we deserve': Students are distrustful of elections

At around 12:40 on Tuesday, two students emerge from the perimeter of the Law Faculty building in Tirana after finishing a lecture. One of them, a 20-year-old man dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt, says he has right-wing beliefs and supported the Democratic Party in these elections.

Although he did not notice anything irregular at his polling station, the law student believes that the Socialist Party's landslide victory came as a result of "vote buying."

"It's a dictatorship. Edi Rama himself said, 'When I want it, I will leave power,'" he says. "The people are not rising up to overthrow him, because the people have been bought with money," the student added, while emphasizing that the new parties did not grow, since the two big traditional parties have more influence in Albania.

Similar ideas are not uncommon among dozens of students BIRN met at the Faculty of Law, Foreign Languages, the Faculty of Economics and the Polytechnic University of Tirana, after the Socialist Party won a landslide majority of 83 MPs in the May 11 elections.

Over 114,000 first-time voters, some of whom were students, were eligible to vote in the May 11 parliamentary elections. While they offer different explanations for the result, most students share the belief that the ruling party used public administration and other mechanisms of electoral corruption to win the elections.

Other students believe that Albanian citizens did not have the opportunity to choose among the opponents of the ruling party, while there are also those who point the finger at themselves with the well-known expression that “every people has the government it deserves.” However, the students shared their opinions with the request to remain anonymous.

A first-year student at the Faculty of Law thinks that after Edi Rama's three terms in power, it would have been good to have seen a change.

"There were alternatives this time because there were new parties. However, I think the ruling Socialist Party had the administration under control," she says, adding that she herself had not been under pressure.

At the Faculty of Economics, a lecturer said on condition of anonymity that she views the increase in the majority with suspicion, even after its 12-year consumption. She also estimates that traditional voters in Albania are mainly militants or people connected with narrow interests, while youth have little access to politics to convey new ideas.

"As an intellectual, I say that it is a bit strange that a party, whoever it is, that has been in power for such a long time has this result. This shows that the government has a great influence, the administration...," says the teacher, who herself did not vote in these elections.

She also has little faith in new parties.

"As for the new parties, I don't know exactly what new parties they are, or are they offshoots of old parties, which were built to supposedly create many poles. That's how I personally think, because otherwise I can't justify the situation we are in, which is completely different from what is advertised," she added.

A first-year Master's student at the Faculty of Foreign Languages ​​also describes the situation as strange.

“It is very strange that the ruling party won. I think there was vote-rigging,” she says. “It would have been great if there had been a change, but as we have seen, the majority of Albanians complain and still vote for the same party, and it is unfortunate,” she added.

Groups of students stood on the steps of the Polytechnic University in Tirana on Tuesday afternoon. One of them, a 19-year-old from Rrogozhina, notes that corruption has always existed, regardless of the party in power. He also blames the opposition as a party from which the people do not expect much as a factor in the outcome.

“As long as he has held power for 12 years, there will be corruption. In my city, Rrogozhina, the elections were peaceful,” the student says. “I think the people wanted a new spirit, but the main opposition party is led by a person from whom the people don’t expect much,” he added.

Another student describes the two major parties as similar, but believes that the Socialist Party is winning because of the work it has done.

"All the old parties are riddled with scandals and the fact that this party is moving forward has to do with dedication, with the work it has done. I think there are other factors. As for the new parties, I consider that they did not do the right campaigns and do not have the space," he said.

A friend of his raises doubts about the diaspora vote, which he says may have been manipulated. According to him, it is incomprehensible that immigrants would vote for the Socialist Party when they have left due to dissatisfaction with the government. However, he himself has dilemmas about the alternatives.

"Even I, if I want to remove this from power, I don't know who to give it to. The new parties were not at the right level," he says.

A third-year student at the Faculty of Economics says that Albanians should turn the finger on themselves, implying that they are complicit in a corrupt system.

"I think that everything that starts with us, doesn't just start with the state. I think Albanians have the government they deserve and nothing more," she concludes. Reporter.al