When Edi Rama went on national television to try to assuage protesters calling for his resignation, he managed only to stoke their anger. The Albanian prime minister grew visibly irritated by the anchor who asked why, after 13 years in power, his government had still not managed to provide reliable water and electricity services for the country’s population of 2.4 million.
It’s a question asked repeatedly on the streets of the capital, Tirana, where people are also railing against the quality of healthcare and education — which generally rank in the lower half of the Western Balkans — and a system they say is corrupt. But Rama snapped, accused Top Channel’s anchor, Sidorela Gjoni, of “talking nonsense,” then switched off his camera.
A recording of the June 12 exchange was posted on YouTube, where viewers praised Gjoni for her handling of those tense six minutes and criticized Rama for appearing arrogant and detached. The clip, which continues to circulate on social media, and the reactions to it, help explain why demonstrations have escalated over nearly four weeks from opposition to the government’s approval of luxury resort projects linked to Jared Kushner into a nationwide movement against Rama’s rule.
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