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Greek emigrants, farmers on Albanian lands P. 9

. Statement by the Presidium of the Republican Party. The official position of the Republican Party concerning the invitation to participate in the Anti-Corruption Commission, a position defined ... oversight of the government and its abusive acts, naming names and reporting to the Prosecutor’s Office all those who have committed serious offenses, acts of ro- is that the PR has been and remains open, first and foremost, to respect for laws and institutions, and to institutional debate about the greatest scourge of Albanian society, which is deepened not only by corruption but also by smuggling and organized crime. The government’s deliberate sidelining of smuggling and organized crime is done in order to accept “de facto” ... make it a reality and deal formalistically with corruption, which is more a matter of wheeling and dealing than the greatest problem weighing on Albania today. Thus, in the fight against crime and smuggling, the government should be interested precisely in respecting democratic institutions, and especially constitutional institutions. By respecting institutions, the PR demands, first of all, that the fight take place within these institutions. If there were to be a State Audit Office that would carry out ... committed serious offenses, then corruption, smuggling and economic crime—if there is no Serious Crimes Court established in cooperation with the opposition, which would be a genuine court, and if we do not have an Anti-Mafia Prosecutor’s Office, not dependent on Rakipi, but established as the result of joint political consensus—we do not believe corruption can be fought. Corruption is a government phenomenon and, as such, cannot be fought with government commissions. The Government must explain what this “Anti-Corruption Commission” is, what its ideas and procedures for setting it up are, what new contribution it makes to institutional life, and whether it stems from a joint national strategy approved by consensus among all political forces. Otherwise, we are entitled to judge that this “Commission,” lacking the power to investigate and report offenses, like the previous commissions, represents a political-propagandistic body intended to ... Continued on page 3

PROSE by Kebek and Papakristo; POETRY by Orizet and Frederik Reshpja; NOTES on Kafka; GRAPHICS by Medi Belortaja, etc.