The approach of the Congress brings a softening of the opponents in the Socialist camp The former chairman’s Alternative and staff will enter the PS structures The approach of the Congress brings a softening of the opponents in the Socialist camp Nano, the first compromise with the party The former chairman’s Alternative and staff will enter the PS structures page 3

It seems that PSD’s participation in the governments formed after 29 June two years ago did not bring this party “good luck.” This is because some of its leading figures became protagonists of several financial scandals and abuses that caused considerable losses to the state treasury. And now, while the reverberations of Shuli’s tenders have not yet died down, PSD is once again the protagonist of another scandal of this kind. By now, when corruption can be said to have acquired the right of citizenship in the Albanian administration, it does not make much of an impression if 10 thousand dollars or 15 thousand marks are stolen from the coffers of a small party such as Gjinushi’s. What is troubling is the fact that among the protagonists in this latest scandal there is also the name of a politician who has been the subject of rumors and accused several times of abuses. This is nothing but a consequence of the tolerant positions usually taken in such cases. The fact is that although there has been endless talk of corrupt ministers and senior officials, with irrefutable evidence also being presented, not a thorn has pricked them. The main thing is that their associates, first and foremost the leaders of the political forces to which they belong, become their most ardent defenders, concocting all kinds of alibis solely so that they can keep their positions. Another evil is that government leaders and their partners, driven by the aim of honoring deals made earlier over the division of posts, take a step forward, pact? with such a troubling reality, leaving in office a corrupt official who should have faced justice long ago. The most flagrant case in this regard concerns former minister Apostoli and his party. Thus Nano, after pressure from Gjinushi, kept Apostoli on even after the changes he made to the government, at a time when Majko was forced to leave the ministry in question once again to Gjinushi’s party. Since the current scandal involving PSD’s missing party funds has come to light at a time when this party and its chairman are facing such problems, and in view of the usual practice of resignations, the social-democratic leader is expected to “honor” his people with the press with the usual accusations of “slander or baseless fabrications serving certain circles.” But if he chose the opposite path, by providing explanations, condemning the scandal involving his party’s lost money and taking appropriate measures, perhaps he would gain more. In this way, by becoming stronger in standing against corruption and the abuses of his associates, he would somewhat improve his future position, in which he now finds himself.

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