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By Arben ILIAZI While we lounge around, northerners connected with “re hat” in the paralysis that has engulfed us, the head of the OSCE mission in Tirana, Ahr-ens, consoled us yesterday: “Albania is better than Colombia”. This is not Western humor, but a reality. Albania has surrendered to the mafia and organized crime to such an extent that a shootout on the capital’s central boulevard would be a luxury. The West has already begun to consider the methods that should be applied to bring the most problematic country in the Balkans back on track, a country that jeopardizes implementation of the Stability Pact. Anti-corruption measures will be at the center of the OSCE mission’s attention. The West acknowledges that an anti-institutional catastrophe has occurred in Albania, but does not want this catastrophe to be accompanied by a return to the past. The heads of Western diplomacy understand clearly that the consequences stem from the narrow interests of politicians, who have preferred ties with crime in order to plunder as much as possible of Albanians’ wealth. The West does not follow the logic of forgiveness, because forgiving bad people means persecuting good people. The West wants justice to be applied in Albania and the rule of law to function. For their part, government officials connected with corruption, past and present, give lessons in democracy and political virtue, hoping that the people will forget their sins. But, referring to Demokrat, we would say that forgetting sins gives rise to apathy. The people have understood that they have irresponsibly handed power to the unworthy, just as if they had handed a sword to a fool. Our government officials do not even bother to examine the crisis fully. Indeed, they do not even have a sense of identity. Thus, no one can begin to understand the available options for the values of democracy, security and citizens’ well-being. Our statesmen feel no responsibility to make changes, let alone to advocate a national policy. In short, Mr. Ahrens is right to compare us with Colombia. Albania is a transit country for every kind of trafficking, including political trafficking, which is unknown in the democratic countries of the world. In Albania, it is not only people who are transported, but also the mafia ties between politics and crime, creating a closed loop. Within this circle, no concrete prospects can be seen for this country, which does not deserve dishonesty and poverty.

THE TITANIC OF CORRUPTION

Order from above: Zani to be released p. 6 Police attacked in Lazarat p. 2 Public order claims ministers’ heads p. 13

Today, 4.09.1999, at 11:00, at the Central Headquarters of the Republican Party, the Presidium of the ...