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| From left to right and from top to bottom: Sokrat Vata (alleged perpetrator of the fatal incident in Ksamil), Gazmend Muça (a well-known gangster in Tirana in the 1990s), Naim Zyberi (a figure involved in the conflicts of that era), Enver Hoxha (the communist dictator), Sali Berisha (former president and former prime minister), and Edi Rama (Prime Minister of Albania), representing figures mentioned in the analysis of sociopolitical developments and the mythologizing of the "strongman" over the years. |
Sokrat Vata is the alleged perpetrator of the brutal stabbing death of a Portuguese tourist in Himara on July 18, 2026, in Ksamil, one of Albania's most beautiful coastal destinations, at the height of the tourist season.
Sokrat worked in security, supposedly as someone responsible for guaranteeing the safety and peace of tourists and holidaymakers at a nightclub. But he did the opposite: not only did he traumatize the tourists who happened to be vacationing there, but he also wounded Albanians across the country by seriously "raping" the image of Albania as a tourist destination.
I will not dwell on Vata, because Albania is full of ignorant criminals like him in every corner. Even the owner of the establishment where Sokrat worked reportedly had numerous criminal records, and it is even alleged that he stole the land on which he built the venue.
I want to focus instead on an element that may have gone unnoticed by government media, opposition media, and the supposedly independent outlets that chase hysterical and shallow clicks: Sokrat Vata may be marking a symbolic turning point in the demythologization of the "cult of the individual" — or, put differently, the rejection and revulsion toward the "strongman." Perhaps this is a wind that coincides with the "marathon" protests that have been taking place for 70 days in Tirana and across Albania against every politician who, over the past 36 years, has been part of managing Albanian sovereignty, Albanian social morality, and public funds.
The mythologizing of the strongman appears to have political roots and to have been inherited from the period of the Communist Party, which, after many decades in power, was consolidating the cult of dictator Enver Hoxha in the late 1980s by erecting hundreds of busts throughout Albania as objects of worship. In a state where atheism had been officially declared and religious institutions no longer existed, the only alternative for believing in "a god" was the dictator Hoxha. The day of the dictator's death confirmed that project completely: people wept in extreme hysteria, in what became the grandest funeral Albania had witnessed since its establishment as an independent state. Strangely, the dictator who had been "worshipped" in extreme hysteria was transformed overnight into the bloodiest man and most brutal killer of Albanians in the country's history after the dictatorship fell de jure.
Half a century of manufacturing the dictator's myth created a dangerous mutation in the marrow of the national DNA: the "worship of the strongman."
Gazmend Muça, who was said to have received political backing from the Socialist Party of the time, was among the first gangsters of post-communist Albania, which had only just formally abandoned de jure the cult of the individual. Gazmend Muça, the charismatic gangster of Tirana who could knock someone down "with the first punch," was inexplicably idolized by gangsters and non-gangsters throughout Albania, who came from every corner of the country to meet him and learn the "secrets" of gangsterism from him. He wore cowboy-style trousers and kept his long hair loose down his back; he behaved naturally and casually. His clothing, hairstyle, and manner became fashionable, particularly among the gangsters of the time, until the 1997 civil conflict. Even the leader of the rival gang backed by the Democratic Party, Naim Zyberi, who killed him in 1992, admired and imitated him in his clothing and hairstyle.
The killing of Gazmend Muça in Tirana, a city that had only recently experienced a measure of freedom, created an inexplicable void, as though one of the gods of Tirana's pantheon had been killed; tens of thousands attended his funeral, to the point that the turnout was compared with the funeral of dictator Enver Hoxha.
A dictator who had killed thousands of innocent Albanians through his orders, and a gangster who had harmed thousands of Albanian families through his gang, were, strangely enough, both worshipped until death.
The behavioral and clothing model associated with Gazmend Muça remained present in Albania until the year of the 1997 civil conflict, when approximately 3,000 Albanians were killed.
The 1997 civil conflict produced numerous gangs led by a "strongman," such as the gang of Zani Çaushi, which operated in Vlora and supported the Socialist Party, and the Gaxhai gang, led by Gazmend Braka, which supported the Democratic Party. These gangster "strongmen" emerged within a culture shaped by atheism and the worship of the cult of the individual. In other words, for the Albanian living in Albania, contact with God was no longer mediated through a priest, imam, or personal faith, but for 50 years was instead represented by a "strongman," who in many cases was schizophrenic, psychopathic, idiotic, or extremely ignorant. This was the legacy dictator Hoxha left the country. Someone who could kill, rape, or rob you was nevertheless admired and silently respected. "Stockholm syndrome" had been successfully implemented in the context of the "new man" project.
Sali Berisha, the "strongman from the provinces," exploited this mentality and has been accused by thousands of victims of ordering dozens of fratricidal and anti-national acts.
Edi Rama also exploited and, in a diabolical way, implemented this mentality in his politics in 2000, when he was handed the Tirana mayoralty by Fatos Nano. For 11 years, Edi Rama was quietly labeled by the people of Tirana as "the strongman, the schizophrenic, and the madman who could do whatever he wanted with Tirana," under the guise of urban development. It was said that he demanded one million euros for a construction permit when he was mayor... He continued to use this approach after becoming prime minister, to the point of elevating crime to an art form by collaborating with artists and singers who represented some of the most dangerous role models for Albanian youth. Yet today we have politicians and businessmen who openly declare that they admire him or elevate him as a "Skanderbeg." They even began imitating his clothing, wearing white sneakers and beards; even seemingly lifelong opponents such as Sali Berisha began imitating him, as did many journalists who today attack him around the clock, just as Naim Zyberi imitated Gazmend Muça.
Sali Berisha and Edi Rama, the two "strongman politicians," ruled and continue to rule by supporting criminals and ignorant individuals, many of whom are now at the helm of the country's most strategic and profitable businesses, including oil, pharmaceuticals, construction, imports and exports, and tourism. It is a tragedy that no "strongman from the countryside" emerged who could at least have brought development to one of the country's most important sectors: agriculture.
Sokrat Vata was born 29 years ago, in 1997, the year of the civil conflict, the year when another type of criminal began to be shaped — a criminal who was supposed to be admired: a criminal legitimized as a politician, businessman, or even someone operating under a religious guise.