Skip to main content

Dy Rame Per Tirane

I was watching Top Channel last night, first the news, then Fiks Fare. According to them Tirana's citizens now have a choice not only between Rama and Olldashi, but also between Rama and Rama. A minor right-wing faction, Parti 'Balli Kombetar', submitted papers to the election authorities registering their candidate, Akile Rama.

The people on Fiks Fare got hold of the papers and sent a reporter and camera team to the address listed for Mr A Rama. After much ringing of the bell the gate was reluctantly opened by a middle-aged woman who refused to speak to the reporter and tried to close the gate on her.

Back in the studio Saimiri and Doctori - the two presenters of Fiks Fare - revealed that Mr Akile Rama was 73 years old, in hospital, and did not know he was now a candidate for mayor. They also compared two documents - the papers submitted on his behalf, and a genuine document he had signed. The signatures were not even remotely similar.

There was an interview with the leader of PBK - Artur Roshi, I believe - but my grasp of Albanian broke down completely at that point so I'm not sure what he said.

What is going on here? I haven't been able to find any reference to this story elsewhere. Even the PBK website doesn't mention their new candidate. (Though it doesn't mention the other Mr Rama, nor Mr Olldashi, nor the elections, so I'm not sure how significant Akile's absence is.)

Either this is a monumentally stupid ploy by the right-wing to confuse left-wing voters - MR A Rama will appear before Mr E Rama on the ballot paper - or its a cunning ploy by the left-wing to make the right-wing look bad. Or its a brilliant spoof by Top Channel. Can anyone out there enlighten me?

In other election news, the beaming face of Rama, E was looming over me last night from a bus which has been turned into a mobile advertisement for the mayor. Not to be outdone, Olldashi, S has hired a fleet of mobile advertising hoardings - large illuminated posters on the back of vans - which are doing the rounds of Tirana. I saw four in a row near Rinia Park a few days ago.

The latest Olldashi posters now have an address for his campaign website which, among other things, has a forum. I hope it's moderated.

Comments

Ll.T. said…
Alwyn, I thought you were staying out of politics :)

A. Rama was a candiate apparently submitted by the BK (Balli Kombetar), and Gazeta Shqiptare was implying in an article today that he was meant to confuse supporters of E. Rama. However, A. Rama has now withdrawn from the race citing health reasons.

Do you have a picture of those Olldashi vans that I can "borrow"? How about a nice one of the buses? :)

Thanks,

Ll.
4:07 pm
olli said…
Well, staying out in the sense of not taking sides. Regarding the withdrawal, I got the impression from Top Channel that even if he withdrew his name would still appear on the ballot paper.

No photos, sorry. Unfortunately I did not have a camera with me at the time of both encounters. I will keep my eyes open for photo opportunities.
4:30 pm
Ll.T. said…
I doubt that his name will still in the ballots; they haven't even been printed yet so theoretically the CEC should have plenty of time to take care of it.
4:43 pm
Adela_Radu said…
I am very impressed to read that you know enough Albanian to follow the political comedy at Fiks Fare. Did you study it before going to Albania, or have you been learning it while there?
5:20 pm
Post a comment

Popular posts from this blog

Albania in the News

Le Monde Diplomatique has been musing in its very French way about The Dream of a Greater Albania . The reliably vitriolic AA Gill is reliably vitriolic about Albania in the Sunday Times . Sensitive Albanians might want to give this one a miss. The Guardian carries an obituary of Gramoz Pashko.
19 comments
Read more

Miss Globe 2007

On Saturday, we were at the Rogner meeting with an expat friend who was leaving Tirana. It was breakfast time, and as our friend was finishing his tea the breakfast room started to fill up with over-dressed (or under-dressed) young women wearing blue sashes. These were the contestants for the Miss Globe 2007 beauty pageant being held in Tirana tonight at the Palace of Congresses. High heel boots and mini-skirts - or in a couple of cases micro-skirts, or possibly just belts - have never struck me as obvious breakfast attire, but the girls seemed happy enough tottering and wobbling around with their tea and toast. I'm not sure why they were wearing their sashes - perhaps in case they forgot which country they came from. As we were leaving they were boarding a large coach which I had seen a number of times around the city in the last few days for their next trip. I'm not sure how some of them made it up the steps, or how they managed to sit down, but perhaps these are the ki
11 comments
Read more

Only Way is Up

Chatting with a taxi driver while back in Belfast a few months ago, he was intrigued when I told him that I was living in Albania. Did I think it was worth investing in property there, he enquired. Not unless you're prepared to risk losing your money, I replied. By the end of the journey he was considering Bulgaria instead. Despite the risks, some people are starting to invest in Albanian property. The Daily Telegraph reports on Ian Warburton who recently spent 29,000 GBP (around 40,000 EUR) on a one-bedroom apartment in a new development in Tirana. "Given its location, I don't see how it can fail to work," he said. The development is called Terra Nova and the apartments are being actively marketed as an investment opportunity by Barrasford and Bird , a UK property company. Here is their sales pitch for Albania: Albania shares the same stunning coastline as Croatia and Montenegro. However, Albania has better weather and prices are about a quarter of those compa
15 comments
Read more