Xhabir Deralla from CIVIL at the panel discussion “Census: Between Politics and Statistics” organized by CIVIL said that for more than a decade we have policies that contaminate the political discourse, ie that not a single issue can pass without being politicized.

“The census can very easily turn into a weapon to discredit political opponents. It is one of the main points of many right-wing politicians in the country and here we have a situation where ethnic relations are becoming a major issue in all areas.”

According to him, the political community takes it in their hands as an argument to show that the other side is lenient.

“It is a matter of calculating those structures that may not achieve their full atmosphere in which citizens have less and less trust in institutions, simply creating conspiracy theories is a good enough result for them, because it will fit into their strategy and certainly the profits are made by the few in those structures.”

Regarding the failed census 9 years ago, Deralla says there have been campaigns and situations since then for which no one has ever been held accountable.

“For nine years, a campaign has been lead that an Albanian politician had asked for it to stop in order to cover the true percentage of Albanians in the country. When you have a masked campaign that seems to have nothing to do with ethnicity, certain political structures, being nationalistic, connect us with nationalism, so that they can make political profits and stay in power and be leaders in certain communities.” adds Deralla