TIRANA, Oct 17 /ATA/ Democratic Party chairman Sali Berisha today voiced his support for student and secondary schoolers’ protests across the country, describing them as a historic revolt against the government.
Berisha said young people were fighting for their own future and that of Albania, adding that the country’s school-age youth would never accept what he called the Albanian narco-state, an autocratic dictatorship built on drugs, crime and the theft of Albanian citizens’ wealth.
“In this context, these young people are truly fighting for every Albanian, for the children of every honest Albanian. They are fighting so that they can build their dreams in Albania,” he said.
“The Democratic Party has stood firmly in full support of the students from the very first minute, and has offered them the strongest possible protection. The DP will provide this movement, this revolt to save Albania and the Albanian people, with its full support and the maximum protection it can offer,” he said.
Berisha said the students were fighting for all Albanians and for a future in which young people could realise their dreams at home. He pledged the Democratic Party’s full support for the protests and called on citizens, parents, businesses and party supporters to join the demonstrations, arguing that Albanian society had a responsibility to stand with young people against what he described as a system built on corruption and theft.
The DP leader said he opposed the expropriation of property but argued that Prime Minister Edi Rama was the biggest destroyer of Albanians’ property.
Berisha called for broad public support for the student movement, describing it as a battle to save the country. During a discussion with citizens, he said the DP proposed abolishing university admission fees and subsidising 50% of students’ rent.
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