TIRANA, July 26 /ATA/Prime Minister Edi Rama said on Sunday that calls for his resignation were coming from people with whom he does not have a political agreement, insisting that his political mandate comes from the 800,000 Albanians who voted for him.
In a post on X, Rama described them as the “dark side” of the protest, while saying that his remarks about the “Boulevard of Flamingos” were directed at the Albanian citizens who had given him their vote.
“Therefore, the crows and ravens should not bother wasting their time rejecting our ‘Besa’, because our ‘Besa’ has nothing to do with them. They can keep coming under my window demanding my resignation until 2029 if they wish! Because freedom is the same for them too, and democracy works equally for everyone,” Rama said.
Rama’s full reaction is as follows:
I receive messages through various channels on WhatsApp, from both friends and strangers, sharing what I would call the “chatter of crows and ravens” in response to my remarks about the “Boulevard of Flamingos”. One of these comments, which I also heard in its original audio recording from beneath my office window, deserves a response:
They keep repeating that they do not want “dialogue”, there will be no “negotiations”, and they will not give their “word of honour” — they only want my resignation! This is a major misunderstanding.
None of them gave me their vote, I have no political contract with any of them, and I have never considered breaking my agreement with the 800,000 Albanians who voted for me — including many flamingos among them.
My remarks were directed at the lessons I drew from the flamingos and addressed to them, not to the “black feathers” that gather on the boulevard each evening after the flamingos’ departure.
The crows and ravens were mentioned in that speech because they represent the darker side of the protest, not because they have any connection to those lessons or to the responsibilities stemming from them.
Therefore, the crows and ravens should not bother wasting their time rejecting our “Besa”, because our “Besa” has nothing to do with them. They are free to continue coming under my window and demanding my resignation until 2029 if they wish. Freedom applies to them as well, and democracy works the same way for everyone.
My contract with the Albanian people, meanwhile, does not depend in any way on them, but belongs to all those with whom I signed it, and serves as a cornerstone of democratic life.
/m.m/sm/
