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OP-ED

There will be protests, what about the 'second' December?

There will be protests, what about the 'second' December?

by Alfred Lela

The clash of views on the protests that have been going on for days does not bring anything new. Nobody wants protests. Everyone has their own reasons. The government does not want to, because they oppose the daily propaganda that says 'dogs bark, the caravan goes ahead'. The opposition shrugs because identifying with the protests put it on a collision course with the international. The protesters, while taking the blows for the government, would not even like the opposition on foot.

It seems that the battle, although not started on political grounds, will end there. The parties are measuring the forces of who has the majority in Albania. Who is the majority: the government, the opposition or the so-called 'silent majority'. Which can be represented today by this minority of protesters who took to the streets after the murder of one of them, 25-year-old Klodian Rasha.

To look like a majority everything is done. A letter from a 6-year-old girl 'against violence' is taken from the script of the movie 'Wag the dog'. The statement of the father of the murdered man who begs not to pluck even a flower in the name of his son is repeated. Road traffic and protesters are allowed to coexist in Tirana, only to see which side survives the anger. The police go to the SP headquarters in Shkodra only after it was burned, even in that case in the role of spectator.

Rhetoric does what neither symbolism nor acts can do. It invents incessant revolutions, rising youth, protesters coming out of the margins to take over the fates of Albania, a deceived Albania, an Albania which throws the dance in the wolf's mouth, etc., etc. They say the December Movement is happening for the third time. Meanwhile, nothing changes. Nor can it change.

Because now rhetoric has become more powerful than acts. The second or third December, unlike the first, we expect from others, not from ourselves. We cook it, as if it were apple pie, in the warmth of the kitchen watching the protests live on TV and commenting on Facebook.

The only majority we make is in the kitchen.

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