"Rama no longer inspires", Marjana Koçeku for BBC: It took me time to understand

The BBC has covered recent developments in Albania, where protests initially launched over environmental issues have expanded to include broader social and political demands, including the resignation of Prime Minister Edi Rama.

In the article dedicated to the protests, independent MP Marjana Koçeku, now removed from the SP parliamentary group, also speaks for the well-known media outlet.

"Rama no longer inspires," she told the BBC, noting that it took her time to reach this conclusion. According to her, the change in perception came gradually, as, as she puts it, behind the country's "facade of development," the political and social reality is different from what was initially presented to her.

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Initially protesting about flamingos, the crowd in the streets below Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama's office has now also started calling for schools, jobs and living standards, and is demanding his resignation. The pink migratory birds have become a symbol of nightly protests in Albania because they gather in the Narta Lagoon, a protected area near the coastal city of Vlora.

A group of international investors, including US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, intend to develop a luxury resort near the area, and the government has granted them "strategic investor" status.

No construction permit has yet been issued, and Rama's government says the environmental impact assessment has not yet begun, but fencing and excavation equipment have been observed on the ground.

Small-scale local protests over the potential environmental impact turned into national protests a month ago, when a video of private security guards assaulting a protester went viral on social media. The incident was confirmed by the prime minister.

The dissatisfaction has now broadened, encompassing broader concerns about how Albania is developing and how the country is being governed.

"I'm here for our schools," a young protester named Helena tells the BBC.

"I'm here for our hospitals, for our infrastructure, for my family who are outside Albania and who wanted to be here. And for all of this, I'm here mainly for myself, because I want to stay in my country and I don't want to leave," she says.

Rama and the Socialist Party have been in power for 13 years. During that time, Albania has changed significantly.

The urban space of the capital, Tirana, has been transformed with a large number of towers, designed mainly by international architects. At the same time, tourism has seen a huge increase, changing the country's international image and accounting for more than a fifth of GDP.

Perhaps one of the most important developments is Albania’s progress towards membership in the European Union. From a starting point in 2022, the country aims to conclude membership negotiations by the end of next year. Of the six Western Balkan countries, only Montenegro is ahead, and it has a decade more negotiations to go.

But these achievements do not convince well-known protester Fatos Lubonja. The writer and human rights activist suffered 17 years in a forced labor camp during the communist dictatorship of Enver Hoxha.

Today, according to him, the current government is kept afloat by "oligarchs, organized crime, the media, and corrupt internationals," while the construction boom is nothing more than money laundering.

“We want justice to investigate,” he says, pointing to the tall towers that surround Skanderbeg Square in central Tirana. “If you look at all these towers, it turns out that this is a plan of organized crime, of oligarchs and state functionaries,” he adds.

Taking a quiet moment in his office in the middle of the afternoon, before the evening protests begin, Rama considers the protests a sign of a democratic and functional society.

However, some of his closest political allies are under investigation by the Albanian anti-corruption prosecution (SPAK), including the former deputy prime minister and the mayor of Tirana.

So, should Albanians also be concerned about the integrity of the prime minister?

“I have said it since day one: I want a justice system that does not look left, does not look right, but looks straight,” Rama says. “A justice system that is not bought, is not pressured, and is not controlled by anyone from a distance. And I have also said that this is the greatest contribution that the Socialist Party will make to this country, because it will not only contribute with reforms, but also by putting itself on the test for the country.”

But the youngest member of the Albanian parliament has decided that cooperation with the Socialist Party is no longer the solution. Rama had personally selected 25-year-old Majana Koçeku as a candidate in last year's elections, after she had become known as an environmental activist in the Shkodra region.

Now she has left the party, saying that her youth did not allow her to “stand by and applaud the government and pretend nothing is happening.” According to her, Rama is a big part of the problem.

"He no longer inspires people and I think that has led to a major crisis of legitimacy. It took me a while to realize that behind the beautiful facades that seem so great, the reality is not the same. And people are realizing it more and more every day," Koçek told the BBC.

For now, the situation seems to be at a stalemate. The protesters are not backing down and Rama is not leaving either. Thus, flamingos are expected to remain a familiar sight in the protests on the streets of Tirana.