Compromise in colors is grey.

For 11 years, I was mayor of Tirana, our capital. We faced many challenges. Art was part of the answer, and my name, in the very beginning, was linked with two things: demolition of illegal constructions in order to get public space back, and use of colors in order to revive the hope that had been lost in my city.

I entered politics from a completely different background from other people in this field, and that has helped me to see and deal with things differently.

I'm not sure I am a politician. I would say that I am still an artist, and I'm trying to use politics as an instrument for change.

I still paint. I love the joy that color can give to our lives and to our communities. I try to bring something of the artist in me to my politics.

Albania is going through a deep crisis because it lacks the rule of law, an independent judiciary, and freedom of the media. I don't think if we stop protesting the problem is solved.