P. 3

P. 3

Nano, the pin in the Socialist Party’s fishing net P. 5

P. 2

By Arben ILAJZI The situation in Albania is beyond the pale. The Socialists’ government did nothing but reinforce the idea of a society where nothing can be achieved through institutional means, a society without authority, where every political action is arbitrary and relations between the state and citizens are subject to the whims of those in power. This situation is a prelude to a mass movement, without any idea or direction. Citizens cannot endure the chaos and misery. Are we returning to the conditions of natural savagery, where one can no longer speak of a state and law, of a liberal democratic constitutional order, of human rights and a sphere for public action? Every decent person has become a “social hermit” in their own country. Anti-state sentiment is taking on beastly forms. The structures that represent law and order are what people fear most. We do not know whom to protect ourselves from: the bandit, the madman, the people in the Justice system, the Prime Minister, the President, or the law itself. Everything has become crime and corruption. The state, in collaboration with the mafia, is killing its own citizens without the slightest mercy, just like the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodia of the revolutionary era. The Police itself is also a target of crime. Around 140 police officers have been killed in just the last two years. This shows that we are heading toward catastrophe. One cannot speak of democratic institutions. As soon as chaos gains ground, institutions and governments lose their ability to act. Albania’s clock is being turned back at a dizzying speed. There is no security, no investment, no honest work. There is only “black work,” turmoil and conflicts that threaten to wipe us out as a species. Political leaders have gone so far as to let reason set itself against reason, abandon the legal sense of governance, and become accomplices to organized crime. The clash between crime and anti-crime will be the most spectacular event of this century’s end for us Albanians. The Republicans and some other political forces believe that the fight against crime is a matter of political will, whereas those in power think otherwise. On this occasion, let us recall Leonardo da Vinci’s maxim: “When a ship is sinking, all the passengers are in danger.” One day, the victims of organized crime will also include the very criminals, with or without power. Crime is holding our democratic and national future hostage.

Consensus is sought from the other political forces P. 3 Caricature: a savage-looking man with a stick over his shoulder, beside buildings. © Maku

Legjisi: Nano is losing his ideas P. 5 Pollo empties the Democratic Party P. 5 The dollar begins its attack on the lek P. 9 Vlachs’ customs and traditions P. 15–16

SHORT STORIES by William Heinesen and Jim Thompson; POETRY by Alain Bosque ESSAY by Fethulla Gylen