Enver Bytyci: "Basha's Civilized Campaign, Rama's Military Discourse"

"Basha's Civilized Campaign, Rama's Military Discourse"

Apr 14, 2011 (BBC Monitoring via COMTEX) -- Commentary by Enver Bytyci:

Every political campaign becomes a reason for a special analysis and they have not been lacking in the Albanian media. While we have been used to seeing balanced election campaigns in the past, with occasional aggravations, this year's campaigns for the local election on 8 May seems to have widened the wedge between parties. While the ruling majority has decided to confront the citizen and his problems, that is, to conduct a civilized campaign focusing on social issues, the other side, opposition, has opted for military means and ways of election campaigning. This striking difference between the two campaigns will produce good or bad result for either side.

Albanian citizens, have focused mostly on the election campaign in the capital, are watching closely in the media the political and election behavior of Lulzim Basha [Tirana mayoral candidate for the Democratic Party, PD] and Edi Rama [Tirana mayoral candidate of the Socialist Party, PS]. So far, they have displayed two entirely different stances and behaviors, which reflect two different and contrasting political and philosophical outlooks. Lulzim Basha's election campaign is clearly emancipated, simplified, controlled, and focused on the citizens and their problems. The Democrat candidate has not displayed any aggression or lack of restraint and has avoided accusations and insults against the opposition candidate. He can be found visiting every neighborhood, road, and street in the capital at every hour of the day or evening. He looks unpretentious, always smiling, and has a charisma and political stature that would be admired by any politician of the democratic Europe. Karl Teodhor zu Guttenberg from Bayer, who is the most-voted politician in Germany, perhaps is Basha's model of behavior. Guttenberg and Basha have displayed a worthy and unusual quality in policymaking: Socialization of politics and society. By conducting a campaign full of alternatives and solutions, Basha has demonstrated that he belongs to the new trend of politicians in our postmodern world. For many, this stance comes from his can-do attitude, which he has demonstrated during the construction of the Durres-Morine motorway, his extraordinary contribution to Albania's membership to NATO and to the liberalization of visas, and his ability to carry out the projects that were necessary to achieve the aforementioned goals.

In the modern political and philosophical thinking, the level of human civilization and behavior takes an important place in the rights of people, citizens, and communities for self-determination -- that is, if we accept the view and self-determination does not simply mean the independence of nations, but also the independence and legitimization of the citizen. General and local elections are important in a democracy and are an element of the self-determination of citizens. On 8 May, Albanians will go to the polls to decide who will govern in the next four years. They will vote on not only the best development option but also on the credibility of the candidates, which is determined during the election campaign. The election campaign has taken a strange course: while Rama has militarized his political discourse and the core of his voters, Basha has focused on civilizing and social way of campaigning and, consequently, has made possible the socialization of many of his party militants. The current Tirana mayor, Rama, has resorted to military stereotypes, slogans, and statement and has even made threats involving paramilitaries, Basha has been conveying messages of peace, coexistence, solutions, power-sharing, cooperation, ordination for the future of the capital.