TIRANA, Oct. 21 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama on Wednesday said dialogue and democratic debate were the only way to address grievances, recalling the 2018 student protests and accusing certain media outlets of encouraging violence.
Speaking at a meeting with banking sector executives, the government head said the exchange of ideas and arguments was essential to finding solutions. Rama contrasted the current demonstrations with the 2018 student protests, which he described as peaceful and focused on dialogue.
“Dialogue, the exchange of ideas and democratic debate, sitting down at the table to find new solutions – these can serve us, as they did during the extraordinary protests of 2018,” PM Rama said.
“Those were peaceful protests by students and lecturers, not demonstrations involving people who, before being lecturers, are standard-bearers for an opposition party, and who come to break the chairs set out for dialogue outside the prime minister’s office alongside people with no connection to the university who do not distance themselves from violence,” he added.
Rama said the 2018 protests had prompted the government to draw lessons and introduce the University Pact, adding that progress had been made but further work remained.
He said ministries were working with universities to identify the next steps, arguing that constructive debate should replace what he called hysteria.
Rama said he welcomed reasonable criticism of the government and public administration but had no common ground with media outlets that incited violence.
Rama also criticised what he described as a failure by some media outlets to condemn violence, contrasting their coverage with that in other European countries.
“Neither in France, Italy, Belgium nor Portugal are there television channels that encourage violence and fail to distance themselves from it,” he said.
“In Italy, journalists across the media use a term for those who engage in violence: ‘petty rioters’. Here, they are portrayed as heroes of the so-called student movement,” Rama added.
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