HOW MUCH WE DIFFER THE PROVINCE AND THE CAPITAL: SUCH A DEEP CHASM On pages 12-13

COST 3 MILLION USD. “THE DIRECTOR MUST BE DISMISSED” The Supreme State Audit Institution is calling for the dismissal of Director General Engjëll Çuçi, because three tenders worth nearly 400 million lek, bearing his signature, violated the law. Çuçi is not the only person at fault. The Audit Institution is also calling for Deputy Director Esat Rama to be demoted for up to six months and for warning reprimands to be issued to Robert Lalo and Enver Ruçi. On page 7

OPINION A book and a reality Teodor KEKO Perhaps I would not have written this reflection if Bukovski's novel “Women,” translated into Albanian by Virgjil Muçi, had not been reprinted for the fifth time within a year. Such a large print run is unusual for our small Albania, given our limited purchasing power and the almost nonexistent decline in book sales. Such a print run, in essence, is an event for our society! So, how can all this interest be explained? The merits of the author and the translation are already known and are not worth discussing by the author of this reflection. This is a work that is officially labeled “amoral,” “in conflict with social norms.” And perhaps this is the essential discovery of this publication: that there is something in Albania—a puritanical Albania, presented by politicians and state sociologists, and a realistic-normal Albania, which knows how to read this work, accept it and keep it in its library. This conclusion, drawn from reality, prompts you to move on to a somewhat Pindaric question: how are our priority policies formulated, taking a realistic Albania into account? I am speaking here of major state policies. If strategic policy in our country were formulated on the basis of a puritanical Albania, Continued on page 3

“To establish Order in ’92, the opposition helped us, whereas now the PD only sabotages.” Bashkimi Kopliku, the first Minister of Order after the 22 March ’92 elections, has described his struggle to restore normal life after the major disturbances that occurred in the early ’90s. In Kopliku's view, this Government too could establish Order, if there were not such a tense political climate, which, he says, results from the destructive rallies organized by the PD leadership. Kopliku says he voted for the Constitution, but that it was not just him: over 50 percent of Albanians did. “Bersani was afraid of his own people, so he forced them to vote openly.” On page 4

DISAPPOINTMENT The bonuses for the blue-uniformed officers are delayed. Although they had been “promised” that they would sign the payroll sheet not only for the solidarity-tax bonuses, but also for those for maintaining Order, the police officers have been left disappointed. There has been no further doubt at the police stations than about the fund allocated for judges' regular salaries. Deputy Minister Cel[l]i has assured them that this delay is due to the failure to release the fund allocated by the Government. The police are once again disappointed by the solidarity fund. Meanwhile, public-sector employees have begun protests and have even called for a strike over the imposition of this tax on the uniformed officers. On page 6

Everyone in the PD, but only when Berisha leaves.” Neritan Ceka has described as “rational and timely” the idea put forward by former PD chairman Tritan Shehu of bringing the party's founders back after an extraordinary congress. From its founding to the present day, many of the PD's leading figures have left the party, in most cases joining other political formations. Meanwhile, the latest person to leave, Shehu, analyzing the situation in the party, has called for the help of the PD's original founders. On page 3

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