The most “wobbly”: Apostoli, Vukaj and Sherifi Nano’s spokesperson said yesterday: Nobody has taken his post as their own property

HOW THE CATASTROPHE BEGAN Teodor Keko We will speak at length about the Albanian catastrophe of the beginning of this year. Perhaps because its aftermath will be laden with “radioactivity,” which sows death even after the explosion. A parallel can be drawn between that explosion which took place in Albania and Chernobyl. The question that should trouble today’s politicians, and that urgently demands an answer, is: Why did this catastrophe happen? Personally, I think that, at its core, the first sparks of the fire were caused by a lack of culture. Culture, that beautiful young lady, who enjoys a somewhat secondary role but nourishes people’s beautiful dreams when they enter civil society, has unfortunately degenerated here into a sort of overworked Cosette, used by those in power as an ordinary servant. Our culture is not only barely keeping body and soul together, but is also beaten every day! Yet our history has shown that if culture is massacred today, tomorrow brings calamity and tears. All of us, at least those aged 40 and over, remember 1972–1973. During this period, a true massacre was committed against our culture. Artists were imprisoned, works were burned, censorship became a court... The consequences? When pluralism was established in Albania, two decades later uneducated people appeared on the scene, people who did not have even the most elementary idea of how to lead or conduct politics. Since most of these figures came from the country’s elite, it is easy to understand what ferocity and primitivism the crowd possessed. The crowd was capable of creating chants such as those that brought Rambo Hekle to mind: “Hey Rambo, hey zagor, we’ll string you up on a rope...” Politicians do nothing for culture—for the truth, at least—which could soften human souls. The Palace of Culture was turned into a bingo hall, the gardens were taken over by tacky Turkish-style kiosks, cinemas became warehouses, bookshops disappeared, libraries were burned, people of culture were demoted and, left without bread, they fled all over the world or took to selling smuggled cigarettes in the streets! This made the crowd’s souls even more savage. Without light, without schools, without enlightenment, they began to see merchants as thieves and waited for the opportunity to pounce on them, like the hordes of Genghis Khan. The opportunity would come soon, because it was the lack of culture that would precipitate the tragedy. [The text here is unclear: “Silani dhe mbathjet e piramidale”], and the crowd erupted at the beginning of the year and destroyed everything: state property, private property and personal property! All this absurd destruction was caused by a lack of culture! Does the current government know this? The [unclear: “Harramedia”] will be chosen when the Constitution for the coming year is approved and when we read—if we do read it—Mrs. Dade’s short- and long-term cultural program. If culture is once again relegated to the tail end, we must pray that tomorrow will not bring new destruction. Because where there is no culture, there is chaos.

LAST NIGHT IN TIRANA Prisoners protested openly and took a police officer hostage. Large numbers of police, the director of Albania’s prisons and the minister himself immediately went to the scene to establish what had happened; according to them, the incident was essentially caused by a trivial matter. They spoke with the prisoner and promised him leave. After that, everything calmed down. “It was an incident between the prisoner and a guard,”

THE DEBATE OVER THE DEPUTIES Arban Hasani The honeymoon of the governing coalition seems to have ended abruptly amid difficulties. But, in the face of a possible strengthening of the coalition, developments involving disputes between the partners have now become more visible than they were just a few months ago. The signals from Gjirokastra concerning Deputy Prime Minister Fino have taken on an official form, too, with the government spokesperson declaring that “the coalition cannot be a honeymoon.” Nevertheless, the two vacant deputy-minister posts at Foreign Affairs and Defence—also left open, hypothetically, in case the junior partners rebel—seem to have come too late to restore order in the victors’ camp. Immediately after the formation of the Nano cabinet, it was pointed out that the governing coalition was the broadest in Albania’s history. It was also stressed that the parties represented were not there merely as window dressing, but had a substantive role in the new government. Yet almost immediately, the smaller allies of the PS began a storm directed at the executive. More than with governing philosophy, the allies concerned themselves with appointments and dismissals, staffing the administration and dividing jobs according to party loyalty. This has been the only issue to cause a rift in the coalition that triumphed in the 29 June elections. This contrasts with differences of opinion over priority policies, restoring public order or relations with neighbouring countries, all of which have been widely debated in Albanian public opinion. Only a short time ago, the PS number two, Pandeli Majko, said that “the coalition is solid,” a statement also confirmed by PS Secretary General Gramoz Ruçi, alongside the leaders of the PAD and the leadership of the PBDNJ and PD. But after Fino’s latest declaration, E. Fino’s remarks, and the expressions of support for Gjinushi’s party, a split in the coalition is no longer imaginary. Ben Blushi’s latest statement—that the government’s basic criterion is not party militancy but professionalism—finally dims the smaller parties’ hopes of placing their numerous members in the administration. Even so, if a final divorce occurs, there could be quite a few defections from the elected representatives to Albania’s two main parties. The fact that two deputy-minister seats remain vacant in Nano’s cabinet cannot be much of a guarantee that they will be reserved as treats for members of the smaller allies. At most, the vacant posts among the state secretaries could be used as the only means of pressure to persuade coalition leaders who have received only the crumbs from Prime Minister Nano’s table. Otherwise, the life of the broadest coalition in Albania’s history could become a long story of quarrels between partners who think only about the not particularly attractive salaries in the Albanian administration. These are the partners who now have to consider what comes after a “honeymoon” that has not been free of trouble.

FOOTBALL Partizani and Vllaznia are breathing right down Tirana’s neck Lushnja coach Haxhiu ends up at the police station On pages 11–12

The gangs are growing fat

“DESERTER”

Prisoners protested openly and took a police officer hostage. A large number of police officers, directors the scene, but matters were quickly clarified. Fifty prisoners from around one cell staged a protest against the prison authorities. One of their companions had asked to speak with the heads of the prison to request permission. He wanted to attend the funeral of his brother, who had died the previous day, but the guards would not allow him. This sparked the protest. For around 20 minutes the prisoners shouted from inside the prison, while their companions held the police officer by the hands. The situation seemed serious, and police assistance was immediately requested. The Minister of Justice himself went to 313, accompanied by the head of the General Directorate. They sought an explanation of the incident, which, according to them, was essentially caused by something trivial. They spoke with the prisoner and promised him permission. the prisoner and a guard. He was asking for permission to attend a family bereavement, and we granted it. As they informed us from the prison, I did not consider it a serious incident, and afterwards everything calmed down,” said, among others, the head of the prisons, Bedri Çoku. He has decided that the prisoner from Fushë-Kruja will be sent to his family tomorrow. “It is perfectly normal for him to attend his brother’s funeral. If the guards had shown more tolerance, none of this would have happened,” Çoku concludes. After 21:30, normality returned to the prison building, while the large police presence cleared Tirana’s ring road. an.te. Tirana Prison

TIRANA — Fines have become the merchants’ nightmare. And yet they continue to pay. Information from the police and the Prosecutor’s Office indicates that gangs have established their “rule” in this type of crime. In just a few months, 10–15 cases have been reported in the capital alone. Robberies carried out through extortion are no longer isolated incidents, but organized crimes. While the crime continues, merchants, for various reasons, avoid the police, their only legal means of resolving the problem. On page 3

TIRANA — Interpol is pursuing the former commander of the Guard. Xhahit Xhaferi, commander of this unit during the period of unrest from March to June, was tried in absentia and a warrant for his arrest was issued. Tried under the Military Code, he faces charges of abuse of office, rebellion and also desertion. More specifically, he is being held accountable for the mass desertions of soldiers in the Guard, including his own. On page 3

“It has nothing to do with politics” GJIROKASTER — Will the Folklore Festival return to the stone stage of Gjirokastra Castle? After nearly eight years of silence, the Council of Historical Tradition and the initiative committee of musicologists and other folklore experts met a few days ago and called for the return of the traditional folk music of all Albania to the southern stage. “For us, there is a taboo around a tradition in the context of organizing festivals of this kind; in fact, we also meet the criterion introduced in recent years that folklore festivals should be held only in cities with castles,” say some of the idea’s initiators. The leader of this initiative is the well-known musicologist Vangjush Kacaruho. The initiators insist that bringing the folklore festival back to Gjirokastër will also make it possible to restore its values, and that this has nothing to do with politics. After the last folklore festival held in this city in the autumn of 1989, there was a break of several years, because, although there was no major connection, the fact that the festival was held in Hoxha’s birthplace often led everything to be attributed to him. In any case, when we speak of a folklore festival, we are reminded that for years it was held in a city which, besides belonging to many other people with no connection to politics, was also the city of the “leadership.” This is not our fault, much less the fault of folk music, which would perhaps be better served by having a city where it could be presented, and perhaps not only every four years, as was the case under the PSDH. It would be better because even if it is not Gjirokastra, it could be another city with culture—there is no shortage of them—which could become the home of a music we know to be authentic Albanian folk music. But it would be better for another reason, too. Finally freed from its nomadic existence, the folklore festival might manage to fulfill its purpose. Better half a folklore festival than no folklore at all, but better still to have folklore than a half-hearted version of it.

While Nano asks the IMF: Don’t suffocate us

The government cabinet On pages 2–3

GAZETA TV SUNDAY 7 DECEMBER AND SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER 1997 The week’s television programmes and episodes from the lives of famous show-business personalities On pages 5–8