SEEU Review vol. 5 Nr. 2 (pdf) - South East European University

SEEU Review Volume 5, No. 2, 2009
which considered the new government too ‘anglophile’, the king decided
after a while to return to his trusted aides and Frashëri government resigned
after losing majority support in the Parliament (Fischer, 1996, pp. 258-260).
The press freedom was further restricted. These were disappointing
developments for the “young” intellectuals, who continued their battle in the
press against the “old” bureaucrats for a while, till the invasion of the
country by Italy.
Alternatives from right and left
In the 1930s some intellectuals thought that the “Occidentalization” of
the country required a reorganization of the state and the political system of
the monarchy in order to implement the desired reform. They began debating
about political alternatives that would vitalize the existing “stagnant”
institutions filled with “Oriental” bureaucrats. Still, most of them were
careful to exempt the king from the open critiques and, indeed, to secure his
approval and alliance for their projects.
The right-wing clash in Europe in 1930s was reflected in these debates of
Albanian intellectuals. What is striking is the lack of voices calling for the
establishment of liberal democracy in the country. Of course, liberal
democracy could not be articulated freely in the press due to the pressure by
the government censors, but other reasons existed as well. Most of the
intellectuals thought that the country was not fit for liberal democracy,
because of its backwardness, lack of strong middle classes, lack of proper
education, lack of tolerance, etc. They feared that the establishment of
pluralism would degenerate into anarchy. A timid defense of political
liberalism was articulated by Branko Merxhani, who advised for a gradual
and disciplined path of monarchy towards liberal democracy, first by
establishing a responsible press, which would form sound public opinion;
after that allowing the direct election of candidates by ballot only in the
major cities and, only when the time was ripe, the rural (i.e. the majority of)
population could be enfranchised (Merxhani, 2003, p. 409; Koka, 1985, p.
104). Even for his weak support of political liberalism in Albania, Merxhani
attracted upon himself the wrath of other intellectuals; for example Krist
Maloki called liberalism an “Oriental bazaar”, and he was in favor of an
autocratic regime in Albania, like the one in Italy, or Austria at that time
(Maloki, 2005, pp. 161-165).
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