Why organisers distanced themselves from Goxhaj while protesters stood by him

At Tuesday’s rally, a woman speaking on behalf of the protest’s organising group said that the decision to have Dritan Goxhaj read the demands had been taken by consensus.

She also clarified that Goxhaj himself was not part of that coordinating mechanism.

So, in a way, she presented Goxhaj as the protest’s speaker, but not as its organiser or leader.

The distancing came after a campaign of attacks against him, based on speculation that he had been a KLA fighter, on his public pro-Hezbollah statements, and on the harsh language about political killings he has used in previous public appearances.

I do not know whether this also included his personal project for the protest, especially the part where the leaders of a future transitional government would be chosen by drawing lots.

But the attempt to distance the protest from Goxhaj was clear.

And it was made in the name of the organising group.

If the distancing from Goxhaj came because of attacks from the government — often based on real facts — then this is a dangerous precedent for the next protest leader, because he could face the same fate.

When someone comes out and articulates the demands of a protest, he is its leader.

He cannot be the speaker of a group of people in the shadows.

Politics is a public act.

It cannot be done with borrowed actors and people in the shadows.

Unlike the woman who distanced Goxhaj from the protest’s “leaders”, most people who support the protest, or are part of it, defended him.

Even though some of his gestures clearly made them uncomfortable, they still did not give him up.

That shows Goxhaj has more support as a leader inside the protest than the shadow organisers who apparently appointed him as speaker, but not as leader.

If, after every leader they appoint, they surrender to attacks from opponents — especially from the government, but also from Berisha’s opposition — they will find it hard to “appoint” a new leader, because anyone will face attacks.

In fact, leaders are chosen precisely to withstand attacks.

The protesters themselves have a lynching mood toward anyone who is against them, and they should not expect others to applaud their leader.

But that is exactly where the merit of whoever leads the protest is tested: whether he has their support in the face of attacks.

Goxhaj appears to be more supported by the protesters and less desired by the protest’s shadow leaders.

And that needs an explanation.

The only explanation that might save them is the mechanism proposed by Goxhaj himself: choosing leaders by drawing lots.

Perhaps next time the marked ticket falls to someone else.

That way, the organisers who could not withstand even 12 hours of attacks against Goxhaj might justify themselves before the protesters, who have spent two days defending him without retreating.

But the problem is that the protest has started to produce a new leadership, not a new draw.

Originally published in Albanian as: Pse organizatorët u distancuan nga Goxhaj ndërsa protestuesit e mbështesin?