TIRANA, Oct 16 /ATA/ Prime Minister Edi Rama today commented on the damage caused to private businesses during the three-day protest in the capital.
The head of government visited a business that had been set on fire by protest participants, stressing that the masked protesters were not students and had nothing to do with their concerns.
According to Rama, the violence was masterminded by the “hand of the opposition”, which he accused of holding the city hostage through masked individuals and receiving support from “foreign hands”.
The Prime Minister described the situation as an attempt to obstruct Albania’s progress, alleging that the opposition and other actors were behind the incitement of tensions.
Rama also addressed the damage caused to small businesses, expressing solidarity with the business owners and families affected.
He appealed directly to small business owners in Tirana, pledging the government’s support once the current situation has been brought under control.
“This is the devastation of the lives, work, dedication, sweat, dreams and hopes of ordinary families — parents who open their doors every morning to earn an honest living and put food on the table. I want to tell everyone who finds themselves in tears today, standing before similar scenes of destruction and running a small business in Tirana, that they are not alone. Once this ordeal is over, we will stand by them.
“I also want to remind them that we overcame an earthquake with devastating consequences — God forbid anything worse — and we did so together. Today, those who lost their homes in just 30 seconds are living in better, stronger homes,” Rama said.
The Prime Minister stressed that the protests and acts of violence did not represent students or reflect the concerns they had raised.
“How can this be the work of students? How can this destruction reflect the investment parents make in their children? This has absolutely nothing to do with students. These acts of violence are in no way a student protest. Holding the city hostage behind masks has nothing to do with people’s concerns, their problems or the legitimate aspirations of anyone seeking a better life,” Rama said.
He accused the opposition of using the situation to advance its political agenda, adding that the events were being driven by the same actors who, he claimed, had repeatedly stood in the way of the country’s development.
“Behind all this are the same forces that have seized control of the Albanian opposition and repeatedly burned and devastated Albania, and which are prepared to do so again to prevent the country from progressing. They are waging a blind battle driven by deep-seated hatred, with division serving as their only guiding principle.
“These are not students. Neither those who hold the city hostage during the day nor those who later present these events as a student-led uprising have anything to do with you, your concerns or the solutions you need.
“How can children be sent out onto the streets and encouraged to wear masks, rip up pavements that are laid and maintained daily with taxpayers’ money, and attack the police? How can their lives be put at risk by sending them into the streets like a blind mob to serve someone else’s agenda?” Rama said.
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