Lawyer Ylli Manjani has taken a hard line against the phenomenon of vote-selling, describing it as a direct blow to democracy. In a television debate, he said this reality had pushed him to make a personal decision: to boycott voting.
A strong stance against vote-selling
Manjani said that anyone who sells their vote is a “disgrace,” arguing that the vote is the only tool that gives the citizen real ownership over democracy.
According to him, the moment a vote is sold, it damages not only the individual choice, but the very principle on which democratic representation is built.
Why he considers it a personal problem
The lawyer said he feels direct concern over the fact that his vote carries the same weight as the vote of a person who, according to him, sells it.
At the core of his reaction is the belief that this phenomenon distorts the formal equality of the vote and gives legitimacy to a process he considers compromised.
The decision to boycott voting
Manjani declared that, although he is not part of politics and is not seeking votes, he has personally decided to boycott voting.
He presented this as a reaction to a system in which, according to him, the sale of votes has turned into an act that legitimizes illegality.
Manjani’s statement brings renewed attention to one of the most frequently cited wounds of electoral processes in Albania: persistent suspicions that citizens’ will is being distorted through poverty, pressure, and vote deals.
In this debate, the focus does not remain only on Manjani’s personal choice not to vote, but on the broader accusation that when the vote is treated as a commodity, trust in the democratic system itself is damaged.