Sudja names names: “Before my arrest I was at the President’s. A deputy minister offered me help”

The greatest failing of politicians, in general, is that they do not know how to learn from what their predecessors have suffered, even when those predecessors are their opponents. The Albanian pyramid schemes can be considered the greatest failure of the Albanian economy in its attempt to become an ugly hybrid, a bastard socialist-capitalist crossbreed. More than that, however, they were a failure of politics and its class. In this context, the accusation that they were politicized is perhaps the element most worthy of consideration, while the popular punishment inflicted on those who designed and put this politicization into practice was the best lesson any politician should normally have learned, regardless of the fact that the people paid the price. Albanian politics is “condemned” never to learn. The thirst to be master of everything compels every party (in fact, so far only two have been identified) to reach its hands into every nook and cranny when it comes to power, while the inherited distrustful gene found in every offspring of dictatorship sees an Ibrahim in every bush, and a potential enemy or saboteur in every non-partisan specialist. The transparency law sparked much debate, not only among specialized economists and lawyers, but also in the offices of many powerful, profit-making firms and companies. Such a “storm” of arguments and counterarguments is normal. To be truthful, it must be acknowledged that, if not the only ones, rentiers have been the businesspeople who for many years have embodied the main features of infant Albanian capitalism. It is a fact that this kind of paradise did not turn out to be paradise. Indeed, judging by the way it gave rise to the events that followed the collapses or failures of the rentiers, it resembles hell more than the seventh heaven. In any case, this is a reality that, whether we like it or not, imposes itself in its truth; and the stubbornness with which it continues to pursue its own prospects cannot be said not to pose a real danger to the economy and politics itself in Albania. For better or worse, the law is the law and must be applied, including its weak points. Thus the administrator, although debatable and perhaps indispensable in the form in which he exists, will sooner or later begin working in the role that transparency assigns him in this case. But for the PS, what matters more is how socialist the person is who takes on such a burden, and how much his work helps the mother party. If nothing else, his role will help Nano and his staff be “transparent” in the accusations they may make against the firms and, on the other hand, justify themselves for their efforts—which, among other things, go so far as for the PS to “forgive” its chief financier, Farudin Arapi, in order to place VEFA under the control of the Socialists. We do not know whether there is any other form of politicization, but it would not be surprising if this were called a sacrifice. Meanwhile, however, the price of failing to learn from the punishment—which may follow—could be greater than the political gain they may have made. …

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