Albania lacks a democratic public sphere

Over the weekend in Albania, thousands of people took to the streets again in protest against the government of Prime Minister Sali Berisha. The opposition behind socialist leader Edi Rama is accusing him of corruption. The current conflicts can be traced back to the delayed development of a democratic public sphere, according to the left-wing liberal daily Frankfurter Rundschau: "A public sphere of fair exchange such as exists elsewhere never really developed here. Until late into the last century the majority of Albanians lived in close-knit family groups which had very little contact with one another. People know very little about one another and are therefore ready to assume the worst. There has never been any understanding of the concept of common good or of the state as its custodian. The communist dictatorship destroyed the large families and failed to replace them with any free public sphere. ... In terms of their programmes the political parties are practically indistinguishable. This sounds paradoxical but is actually logical: Where there is controversy, there can also be compromises. Where there is no controversy pure, empty competition reigns supreme."

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