A guide to recognize the crypto-Berishists of the upcoming electoral campaign

Crypto-Berishism is the phenomena of hidden Berishism that, while it may not appear in obvious forms, it remains the same issue: Individuals held hostage by Sali Berisha and his ideology. Compared to those who have given up critical thinking and simply parrot Berisha’s nonsense on a daily basis, the crypto-Beirshists seem to lack all morals. Even though they are aware of the damage that Berisha is causing to the opposition, they lack the courage to free themselves from him.

The first in the crypto-Berishist group are the majority of his candidates in the upcoming local elections who, despite being annoyed by the idea of losing because of Berisha, content themselves with the idea that they will still have more votes than Enkelejd Alibeaj. Their biggest dream is for the rest of Democrats to be grateful to them for having served Sali Berisha until the end and eventually reap the rewards. What they seem to forget however, is that once Berisha is no more, the humiliating rules set by him for career advancement will also cease to exist.

Even more ridiculous than Berisha’s candidates is the army of journalists and opinion-makers who see things through Berisha’s eyes only. One such individual for example claims that the US Ambassador in Albania has failed in her diplomatic work because she has criticized Sali Berisha. Furthermore, such a statement comes when the State Department as well as the White House have praised the Ambassador’s work. They go on judging other political actors in Albania through the same lens. In other words, a progressive politician is one who supports Berisha and all others are regressive. They make such claims for a man who has been accused himself and his family of corruption. Personally, I understand that this attitude is the result of shared concerns. However, Albania does not have their issues, or those of Sali Berisha.

The third and perhaps the sneakiest crypto-Berishists are the leader of his allied parties who, despite not being in his coalition, support publicly Berisha’s candidates. Being for or against Berisha can be proven by the fact that one votes his candidates or not. Sali Berisha himself is not running in the May 14th local elections. Therefore, the lie that they do not support Berisha but only his candidates is nothing more than hypocrisy. The only freedom that these individuals enjoy is that they can claim that they are not part of Berisha’s coalition.

It does not take a lot of effort to see who the crypto-Berishsits are in the upcoming local elections. Pay attention to who remains silent when Berisha attacks the US Ambassador, look at who attacks Enkelejd Alibeaj’s candidates or when they do not dare to even ask Berisha regarding the accusations made against him by the State Department. They are simply Sali Berisha’s humiliated foot soldiers.