Miner takes on Albania’s political heavyweights at ballot box

Elton Debreshi and his colleague miner wave at a mining area in Bulqize, Albania.

A national election in Albania tomorrow looks too close to call — but third-generation miner and first-time parliamentary candidate Elton Debreshi won’t be celebrating whichever of the two main parties wins. A native of Bulqize, an eastern town dominated by a chromium mine and where poverty is widespread, the 31-year-old is standing as an independent, and on a mission to defend the interests of a working class that, he says, mainstream politicians have neglected. “In parliament, we have never heard a word about our suffering,” said Debreshi, who has around 7,000 Facebook followers and whose campaign has won endorsement from anti-establishment former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis. “Every lawmaker from this region has been an owner of a chrome mine, or the owner of a hydro power plant, forests or quarries. In one word they were not from our class,” Debreshi told Reuters. “They don’t care for the lives of the people here.” Around 800,000 Albanians have emigrated since 1990, when a multi-party system replaced one of the world’s most authoritarian Communist regimes, many driven abroad by a high unemployment rate and one of Europe’s lowest standards of living. Opinion polls make tomorrow’s vote too close to call between the governing Socialist Party of the Prime Minister Edi Rama and the opposition led by the Democratic Party, fuelling a mood of uncertainty in what many observers view as a still relatively fragile democracy. The opposition has accused Rama’s party of trying to buy votes, which he has denied, and there have been sporadic outbreaks of violence during campaigning. “In a democratic society changing the governments and prime ministers should bring normality but in Albania is seen as a dramatic event, with high tensions,” said Ervis Iljazaj, a political science professor at the European University of Tirana. The European Union plans to send 50 observers to monitor the vote.