How diaspora voting rights became Sali Berisha’s biggest regret

Sali Berisha’s push for voting rights for the Albanian diaspora has become a classic example of a political gamble backfiring. For years, he blamed his electoral failures on the claim that opposition voters had emigrated, leaving too few supporters at home to bring the opposition back to power.

To counter this, he presented himself as a champion of diaspora voting rights, declaring that such a move would “topple Edi Rama’s regime in Tirana.” However, the Socialist Party took his rhetoric seriously—and is now making it a reality.

As the Socialists successfully mobilize large numbers of Albanians living abroad, meticulously identifying their supporters and building the infrastructure needed for diaspora voting, Berisha has begun to panic. It is dawning on him that the diaspora, far from being his political lifeline, is emerging as Prime Minister Rama’s stronghold.

In response, Berisha has called on his followers abroad to protest outside Albanian embassies in Western countries and disrupt Socialist Party events. Even more troubling, he has urged acts of violence against these gatherings. The irony is striking: the man who once claimed his electoral salvation lay with the diaspora is now admitting, in effect, that he lacks meaningful support among them. Instead, he is relying on small groups of agitators to physically attack his opponents.

This desperate strategy—planting individuals to disrupt Socialist meetings with diaspora voters and inciting attacks on embassies—reveals Berisha’s regret for ever pushing for diaspora voting rights. Now that he realizes he cannot count on their support, and that their participation could worsen his electoral losses, he has resorted to the politics of obstruction and intimidation.

His tactics are reminiscent of the communist regime’s anti-rallies in 1991, organized to counter the opposition during its final days. However, those events were peaceful displays of loyalty, with participants marching under the shadow of Enver Hoxha’s portrait. Berisha’s approach, by contrast, relies on violent disruptions—a clear indication of desperation.

By encouraging violent gangs to disrupt Socialist meetings with the diaspora, Berisha hopes to undermine the very voting process he once demanded. Yet his actions may have the opposite effect, further alienating the diaspora. After being forced to leave Albania due to policies enacted during his rule, these voters now see him attempting to haunt them even in their adopted countries—a lingering shadow of the past they sought to escape.

The article initially appeared in Albanian titled: Pendesa e thellë e Berishës pse kërkoi votën e emigrantëve