Hajdari: I am the minister. Çelo, from Athens: I’ll be back tomorrow. SHIK is headless

Yesterday, a day of paradoxes: Berisha exchanges counter-orders with Fino. The royal court cannot keep its nerve. The Socialists celebrate their victory. Albania is adrift in chaos. Yesterday Albania looked like the ill-fated year when people shouted at the beaters of Xhaçi Qamili: “We want the father..!”. Yesterday, however, on the steps of the Palace of Culture in the capital, 150 supporters of the king’s heir were shouting: “We want the king... we want the king”. The police surrounded the demonstrators to protect them from incidents, while the president’s guards surrounded the police; it is not known for what purpose. Yesterday President Berisha called for roadblocks to be set up and the Republican Guard to take control of sites of special importance. Fino objects. Berisha’s order seems absurd. On the one hand he calls for peace, while on the other he will not give up the psychology of terror. Albanians must get away from roadblocks, weapons, the state of emergency and anxiety, as soon as possible. Yesterday the DP condemned red terror in a statement, while yesterday the SP condemned blue terror at a rally. The living people cannot seem to free themselves from terror. Even when it is absent, politics invents it. Yesterday Berisha and Fino crossed swords; orders flew from the Presidency, and counter-orders from the Government. The paradoxes continued throughout yesterday. The DP curses Belul Gjelo for betraying it back then, while Berisha is seeking to promote Azem Hajdari to the role of Minister of the Interior. Berisha’s order itself is a paradox, if we remember that not long ago Azem was declared a heretic by the DP and was expelled from the party structures. When Azem’s candidacy was opposed, that of Ali Kazazi was ready—the man rumored to have been involved in the Bushat ambush against Fino. It seems that although Berisha has accepted defeat, he is seeking a strong hand to keep the terror clan alive. Yesterday Nano, who has once had one hand in the Presidency and the other in the Prime Minister’s Office, organized the huge rally to savor his sweeping victory over Berisha. Perhaps the SP and Nano were hasty; this is no time for rallies. Albania is adrift in chaos. It would be better for Albanians to govern themselves not through rallies, but by building a state governed by the rule of law, which continues to be served by its limbs through the flight of Berisha’s government officials, one of whom announced yesterday that he would resign. Yesterday Azem Hajdari declared solemnly: “Fino, get this through your head: whether you like it or not, I am the Minister of the Interior!” And the burden Azem carries is not only to become a union chairman and a minister, but perhaps even prime minister. What is happening to the state? It seems the state is being treated like a cruel joke. God bless the state!

Berisha’s escorts prevented Azem from becoming head of the trade union

Hymn of the Republic O sons of the Republic, I bow to your creed The Republic, Brothers, binds and unites us Everything we revile and insult, we cast against our own glory And brand with shame the one who triumphs. And should Caesar return, or any other king I shall be the vengeance of the vast Homeland. To the cell that awaits you, I shall say: look When the lackeys point out the Louvre to you. If a thousand Republicans there are, I shall be one myself Even if only 100 remain, I shall still stand in the ranks I shall be the tenth, if only ten remain But if just one remains, I shall be that one.

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