Remarkable, but the pretext of a female leader could bring about a split between the SP and the Government page 3

By Blendi Fevziu In political language, and in the media as well, a term has been mentioned frequently lately, the meaning of which is not known to all Albanians. The ombudsman, or People’s Advocate, has begun to become part of everyday conversations; indeed, it has begun to worry some MPs who are required to discuss it in Parliament no later than this afternoon. But the incomprehensible name has also become an equally incomprehensible concept. Interested in finding its translation among ordinary people, I got a completely original explanation from a person who seems to have little connection with today’s structures. “Many years ago,” he told me, “there was an office for people’s complaints at the Central Committee of the Party, run by a good man named Zalo Buba. The office took note of people’s complaints and passed them from one office to another, but never provided a solution. You felt reassured if you had lodged your complaint with the Party. As far as I can make out, this Ombudsman must be like Zalu(a).” Apart from this somewhat vulgar explanation, worthy of someone who has moved from the offices of one system to those of another to solve his problems, the ombudsman remains a controversial issue. This concept, successful in countries with a strong sense of civic responsibility, consolidated structures and equally responsible officials, has enjoyed a degree of success—indeed, enough to enthuse institutes and researchers who want to make people’s lives easier. Unfortunately, its implementation in Albania, despite the persistence of respected international organisations, cannot escape trivialisation and becoming a useless link without any function. Applying advanced Western practices in a completely different environment such as Albania has often turned serious initiatives into caricatures, deceiving even the international organisations themselves. Our experience has shown that even people with a strong personal reputation, such as the well-known jurist Bezhani, have had no opportunity to act while heading similar structures. The administration was supposed to be purged of former State Security collaborators, but the letters of the old lawyer disappeared without ever receiving a reply. The candidate whom Parliament may discuss today is, naturally, not expected to fare any better. Add to this the fact that he is unknown, or nearly so, to most of the administration, and it is enough to understand that a useless link is being created in Albania. One of those links that, instead of simplifying the problem, makes it even more complicated.

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The horrific story of a 17-year-old from Moldova A slight-framed, exhausted girl, with staring eyes and the appearance of a tortured child, lies there, drowsy from the medication. The nurses give her a sedative whenever she begins to wake up. Nobody remembers her, not even her parents, who may think she is dead. While the traffickers make deals, the Albanian authorities “mock” the fate of a wretched girl who has ended up in the hands of Albanian vampires. This is Eva. She is only 17 and has experienced in Albania not only male brutality but also the cruelty of an indifferent state. Eva, who is said to be from Moldova, was taken from her country by traffickers and sold and bought from hand to hand. But six months ago she was caught by Albanian police in Koplik. There began another deal over the victimised girl. She was transferred from one police station to another. And the treatment she received at the police stations appears to have been no better than at the hands of the traffickers. page 12