Prime Socialist and Prime Minister Nano, from the very start of his government, put forward and won applause with governing professionalism from the top of the state pyramid down to the local base. Other government officials as well, including the Minister of Reform, imitated the great leader by repeating in Parliament, in press conferences and in numerous interviews: meritocracy, the pharmacist’s scale that would select the state administration. But there is a world of difference between saying and doing. Meritocracy quickly collapsed. In its place, just as quickly, came fierce party militancy. Gradually, the trusted figures were subjected to the criterion of partitocracy. After the deputy ministers were selected, lists are now being drawn up for the directors of directorates in the various ministries. The trusted Socialist appointees are taking seats in office chairs. As if they too were supposed to be the trusted people of the governing parties in the coalition? If that were all the Nano government was doing, it would be half the problem, but revenge is not an opposition slogan or invention. Two days ago, the director of the military hospital was dismissed without any justification. As if he too were not professionally capable of running the hospital? For partisanism, a neighborhood doctor is running the Ministry of Health simply because he happened to belong to a party that ended up in the coalition government formula, while a doctor with unquestioned merits has his managerial abilities called into question for the tiny reason that he does not enjoy party trust. Partitocracy is descending to the base; in the last two days, party loyalists have been appointed in the Milot-Laç region (Kurbin district), starting from the district council down to the communes. It seems that Nano’s Government, after taking political power into its own hands by appointing prefects and prefecture secretaries, is now occupying the base of power as well, leaving the opposition with straw keys. A shake-up is expected soon in the Ministry of Education as well. Minister Ruka, after surviving the interpellation, has secured his position and is expected to counterattack the blue ranks. It is said that the changes will affect not only the directors of directorates in this Ministry, who will undoubtedly belong to the PS, but also the directors of educational directorates in the districts. If there is resistance, there may even be some structural operation that bypasses the education directors by reverting to the former education sections. As can be seen, while meritocracy has remained an orphan, without mother or father, partitocracy has become the spoiled favorite of fate.

Page 6 Medi Belortaja

They rob a woman, she gives them bullets Page 2 PS: PD in court Page 3 Memia, get out of the party Page 4 104 kilos of marijuana in a diaper, two Albanian women and one Sicilian arrested Page 6

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