Skenderbeu, Ismail Bey and Edibeu

By Lutfi Dervishi

The inauguration of the statue of Skenderbeu at Hora e Arbëreshë in the presence of the Speaker of the Assembly, Spiropali has opened an absurd debate.

People of the (sculptor craft, a step higher than pictor), say that the portrait of the Albanian National Hero, the Athlete of Christ, the first creator of the euto-Atlantic alliance, is more like Edi Rama, the current prime minister than with Skenderbeu. It is not Edi Rama's fault that he resembles Skenderbut, just as it is not his fault that he also resembles another great historical figure of Albania, Ismail Bey.

It seems that the longer he stays in power, Edi Rama (tani has entered the 12th year as prime minister and the 25th year since he first became minister, longer than Brezhnevi), the more he has mercy on Skenderbeu and Ismail Qemali in his portrait, thus merging the past and the present into a single major figure for Albanians.

The transformation began silently, leaving the chin. When Edi Rama made up his mind about this, the rumors were increasing more than the euros that are thrown into construction in Tirana. “The boss is starting to look like Ismail Qemali,”.

For those who do not know, Ismail Bey declared independence in Vlora on November 28, 1912. The resemblance became so obvious that everyone raised their eyebrows and opened their mouths. But with Ismail bey, it is not only the visual similarity. Rama, who by chance is also a deputy from Vlora, began to carry the weight that suits his stature and caliber, the weight of a man who, in another life, he could have been at the head of the Albanians both during the confrontation with the Ottomans in the 15th century and with the difficult birth of the Albanian state at the beginning of the 20th century.

 

Great luck for the country that today has at the head of affairs a man who has mercy on the fighting spirit of Skanderbeg and the wisdom and diplomacy of Ismail Qemali. It's like discovering the “code of da Vinci albanian”, a perfect combination of Skanderbeg's pall with the power of the pen, and we have all this today thanks to the decision to grow a beard and carve a statue.

 

Someone calls it a coincidence. Another feels it's luck. But here, the boundaries between history and reality blend more easily and quickly than the water that is thrown to “wash” milk.

 

If Skenderbeu saved Europe from the Ottoman Empire and Ismail Qemali saved Albania from oblivion, it is lucky that Edi Rama is now on the front line, saving the European Union from apathy and sleepiness.

 

Critics, who see only mourning, instead of rejoicing anathema. The opposition leader has called the statue in Italy a shameful, anti-national “act,” comparing it to Bolívar's replacement with Escobar. Meanwhile, sculptors and art critics scratch their heads, and they have no answer to the question why today's politician should be immortalized in bronze with a helmet with goat horns or why the Prime Minister's beard is so similar to Ismail Bey?

 

Nonsensical question. The real question is: why did it take so long to get here?

 

In a country where mythology and reality shake the same glass of brandy, it is tragic that today's leader took on the features of the heroes of Albania's history so late. The great Albanian trinity—Skënderbeu, Ismail Bey and Edibeu—each while holding the Europeanist front has saved the country from the biggest waves in history; XV century, the 20th and 21st centuries.

 

As the sun sets over the statue of Skanderbeg in Skënderbej Square in Tirana, Ismail Bey in Vlora and Edibe in Hora e Arbëreshë in Italy, the question is whether Edi Rama is the heir of these legendary figures, it's a common rhetorical question. Edi Rama has only been in power for 12 years, while Skënderbeu stayed for 25 years. History is becoming, in one way or another, and whether with a sword, a pen or a beard, Albania continues to give the old continent saviors.

 

In the capital, a tower is also being built ( near the former 15-story tower that will show the portrait of Edi Rama. And since there is also the statue of the hero in Skanderbeg Square - the two great figures will look like twins whose immortality history gave them.

 

And as a lab with its characteristic humor would say, “ At this rate, by next year, if I remove your beard, add a little wrinkles, putting a scarf on Rama's head can start to look like Saint Teresa.”

 

After all, this land has always been a land of wonders.