PM Rama Tells Youth His Variant How He Achieved Everything Climbing to ‘Power and Plenty’ Alone

It’s not the first time that Prime Minister Edi Rama, who is also chairman of the ruling Socialist Party (SP) after succeeding to outmanoeuvre the veteran leader, Fatos Nano and a dozen of founders of that party, a successor of the Party of Labor of Albania (PPSH) in the beginnings of 1990s, turns to his variant of the upward trajectory towards becoming Albania’s most powerful leader over the last decades.
This time he narrated his story to youth of Lapraka, a neighborhood in Tirana, in a pre-electoral rally on Sunday confessing
that he had accomplished it all, but climbing to the top had been difficult for him.
“I did not enter politics because I wanted to be a politician, but because I was in emigration. I gained self-confidence,” said Rama who has lived in Paris for many years until former PM Fatos Nano brought him back to Tirana out of pity because of miserable living conditions in France where he made his living selling cheap paintings in the streets of the French capital.
Later Nano turned to be the arch enemy of Rama with the latter being smart enough to topple him down from power and making him leave the party.
Rama told the Lapraka youth he didn’t fall into abyss like many Albanians because he was part of those people believing in work, himself, and bravery.
“I have entered this path for not letting my fate, my family, my country in others’ hands. Today I am here to tell the Albanians: do not stop, do not change course, do not surrender. Climbing to the top we want to reach is difficult. I have accomplished it all,” Rama said without mentioning a word on those who backed him for his ambition to be Albania’s strongman.
Rama also avoided any reference in his memories narrated to Lapraka people on Sunday on his past as part of the nomenclature of the former communist Party enjoying special rights and living conditions when the majority of Albanians could not make their ends meet in 1980’s when the impoverished Albania was considered as the last domino of Eastern Europe.
“I have had all the honors from my people. I am not here for myself, we, (Deputy PM) Erjon (Brace), you all love Albania not for power, but they love it for power,” he said in hinted attacks against his adversaries including President Ilir Meta who was one of those who supported Rama in his rising political career during the time he was Tirana Mayor.
“If you look at the mileage in my car it is longer than that of the prime ministers taken all together in our country because of my travels all over Albania,” said PM Rama.
Albania will hold general elections on April 25 this year, and Rama is in search of a third mandate as government head. /argumentum.al