The manager of “Grunasi” admits to creditors: I have been giving Rexhina Nano 1,000 dollars a month

. The customary law was harshly blamed for the criminal act in Parliament. The socialist leadership considered the “jatarsin” exhausted after this finding. A resignation scene was staged with Majko, but the ending was mechanical. Nano quietly set off for Hong Kong and, before leaving, also attacked the “customary law” of the PS, describing his government’s program as a program of the Right! As if it mattered that voters had voted for the socialist or social-democratic alternative. Nano and his staff hold the firm conviction that if voters manage to confront the PS’s new program, the matter will be closed by an accelerated procedure, with the blame pinned on the party’s “customary law.” Customary-law psychology is also present in the PD. Before the investigation into the crime has even been completed, Berisha gathers crowds in revolt and leads them toward ... nothing, since he has identified nothing concrete. The slogan “let the rulers of crime be impaled” seems far too vague to inspire a new political reality in the PD’s favor. It is paradoxical to demand the government leader’s resignation as the “organizer of the crime” and, on the other hand, declare that early elections are out of the question. The electorate will find this political “customary law” difficult to interpret. Public protest is natural when precedents of crime emerge, but their politicization must be counterbalanced by political objections. The contradictory elements currently evident in the PD’s political course create the effect of a perfect parallel with the political configuration of the governing side, led by the PS. Mazreku was perhaps rightly described as a victim of the customary-law syndrome, but this is no warning or appeal to Albanian neo-communist politicians. Politics that does not recognize consensus as the basic factor of a pluralist democracy is shaped by individual instincts that crystallize into customary-law norms. It was precisely “customary law” that prevented the PS from choosing, from among its members, the most balanced and suitable figures for the People’s Assembly. Likewise, it is precisely “customary law” that prevents the PD from adopting a new political face, with more credible figures and a more rational approach to conducting the opposition.

, page 2

Suspected cholera cases. Two English lords arrive to buy the Arms Factory

The hemorrhage of ironworks continues. Indus-

Photo: Geri Noka page 8

From Millosh to Migjeni Arshi Pipa, Natali Sarro, Ilir Levonja, Altin Metaj, Ardian Thano Verses to be read standing up pages 11–14

pages 6–7

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