Enver Hoxha statue falling in Tirana | Photo courtesy of Armando Babani

Forty-six-year-old Vullnet Spahiu is little known to the general public in Albania today.

However, 26 years ago he was one of the leaders of the student movement that brought down the harsh Communist system that ruled Albania from 1946 to 1992.

Most of Spahiu’s friends and revolutionary colleagues at that time established or joined newly formed political parties and became a part of Albania’s new political establishment – but not him.

Disappointed with the new political elite, which in his opinion has not lived up to the hopes and ideals of the student movement, Spahiu migrated to Greece and did odd jobs over the years to feed his family.

However, the dream of a democratic and prosperous Albania, which he dreamed in 1990, still seems to haunt him.

A few months ago, he returned to Albania on a mission to topple the new political class that rules the country.

“Albania is in a very difficult situation and none of our ideals have been implemented,” he told BIRN.

“We don’t deserve to be ruled by the kind of people that we have today in parliament,” he added.

Like many Albanians, Spahiu believes that Albania’s main parties – just like the Communists – only look after their own interests, and ignore the real needs and wishes of ordinary citizens.

In Albania, there are constant complaints that long after the fall of Communism the goal of true democracy remains unfinished business.

Widespread corruption and parties ruled by authoritarian leaders have made the “transition” period in Albania far longer than was thought and expected.

Many are also frustrated that 26 years after the fall of Communism the crimes of the old system remained unpunished and the files of the former secret police are still not open.

“We should do anything it takes to change this situation,” Spahiu adds.

Fatmir Merkoci, a lawyer in Tirana, is another former revolutionary who believes that fresh political change is needed in Albania.

As a young law student he was in the in middle of the demonstrations of 1990 and 1991 that brought down the Communist system.

“We were a patriotic and intellectual family persecuted by [former dictator] Enver Hoxha’s regime, and I have borne many personal consequences as a result,” he told BIRN.

On February 20, 1991, as a member of an independent union, he led an angry crowd of around 100,000 Albanians that took over Tirana’s Skanderbeg Square and toppled the statue of Hoxha.

He was later shot at by the police and lost consciousness, so his friends took him to a hospital.

Almost three decades later, he also feels disappointed with the results of Albania’s revolution from the 1990s.

He criticizes the political establishment that has been created since the Communist system collapsed and refused to pursue a political career as a result.

Merkoci told BIRN that the current political class will not stop him from loudly demanding the belated implementation of the ideals of the anti-Communist revolt.

“The media is my platform to continue my activism for a better country. Since 1995, I have articulated bold ideas on every political and social occasion every time that I could do so,” he said.

He also said that some of his ideas expressed in public over ongoing important issues, such as judicial reform, had created disputes with senior justice officials and had complicated his work as a lawyer.

“I’m always seen as the black sheep but that’s no problem for me. I will stop never openly talking about the important issues of my country, whatever the cost,” he said.

Merkoci said he had been campaigning since the 1990s about the right of people to know who had collaborated with the old Communist secret police, the Sigurimi.

“Through my articles, I have constantly sought the investigation of Communist crimes and the punishment of guilty former Communist officials,” he said.

Spahiu said a new political movement called the Albanian Bee [Bleta Shqiptare] led by Shenasi Rama, a well-known former student activist, had brought hope to people like him and his friends who do not identify with the current political system.

“I have faith that this movement will change some things in Albania,” he said. “Now it is important to organize,” he concluded.