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By Teodor KEKO Our Prime Minister, Mr. Pandeli Majko, issued an ultimatum: declare your assets. The ordinary Albanians showed goodwill toward their Prime Minister, the statesmen and their bodyguards. It was [done?] well. However, the Albanian reality in this… and Albanians would no longer call the Majko initiative “market gossip.” Without doubt, if Mr. Majko is to detach the state from crime and corruption, he must himself head the group of prosecutors and begin the verification. A minister, a point that recalls a shepherd’s proverb, which says: When the dog barks in the sheepfold, the wolf farts on the mountain!… Whom will Mr. Majko inspect, and who will show him their pockets, since statesmen’s suits have no pockets! They will declare their poverty, making us weep and wail, and they will forget the businesses of their wives and family members. This business of verifying assets has now become a worn-out matter, because on the one hand there is shouting about verification, while on the other the public official fills out soul-saving forms and builds ultramodern villas, buys super-expensive furniture, has become a patient of hydromassage, and wears ornamental watches on his wrist that cost as much money as Mr. Majko will earn in salary up to the year 2001! Faced with this reality, it is no use merely making declarations: dirty wealth must be verified and seized! The Italian prosecutor’s office opened a case in Rome, verifying the assets of politicians’ families. Our prosecutor’s office can do the same. Mr. Majko, get to work on this! [Text unclear] It is enough for prosecutors to set out with some lists of names in their pockets and begin the verifications one by one. That would truly be a job that… Without a doubt, if Mr. Majko wants put himself at the head of the group of prosecutors and begin the investigation. A minister who takes bribes is a cancer on the nation; he hastens its death. If Albania, having emerged with so many illusions about democracy, has spent nine years spinning in place and sliding downhill, the main reason is corruption in the state, which does not dare to hold accountable and prosecute the person who has stuffed a wad of money into its pocket. October 10 is set to be a historic date in this regard, but Mr. Majko must not forget that we will all be waiting for his public statement on October 11: are there corrupt state officials or not, and who are they! Mr. Majko should be sure that the people know the thieves by their first and last names. They now want to know whether Majko is truly against thieves, or whether he is speaking merely because he has to speak. If he is serious, I am certain that on October 11 we will have a new government and that there may be an urgent call for early elections. Does Majko have the strength and courage to take on this challenge? Since I began with a proverb, I will end with another proverb, I will end with another proverb, pastor: The dogs of Luma won’t bite you if you sit down on your backside—but do you have the guts to sit down? That is where the issue of combating corruption lies. Let us wait for October 11!

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Today, at 11:00, at the Republican Party’s Central Headquarters, the Executive Board will hold a Press Conference.