The draft law on the Central Election Commission is escalating the situation DP: We will repeat ’97. PR: We will protest in every possible way The draft law on the Central Election Commission is escalating the situation. The draft law on the Central Election Commission is escalating the situation Opposition: Change the law, or the country will go up in flames DP: We will repeat ’97. PR: We will protest in every possible way page 5

ALEKSANDËR ÇIPA The real reason for the cancellation of several American visits to Tirana during the tenure of the socialist prime minister Pandeli Majko remains officially unexplained. And this happened precisely when official Albania was proud of shouldering the Kosovo crisis. Meanwhile, such cancellations have now been forgotten for three months. The agenda of “American arrivals” in Tirana has been particularly busy during the past two months. At the same time, in our official capital, for reasons not yet publicly acknowledged, official activity on the crucial issues of launching the Stability Pact is turning into an atmosphere of sluggishness and routine. Many people, at the civic level and especially in political representation, viewed this initiative as a generator of a new and different climate for the Balkans, but first and foremost in terms of the implementation of concrete regional projects and initiatives. Albanian politicians, especially those on the left, rushed to align themselves with the initiatives aimed at political communication and cooperation through projects within the framework of the new regional policy. Meanwhile, it seems that only the small Balkan republic of Macedonia took to heart the saying: “The meek lamb drinks from every teat.” In this context, the Meta Government has now come up against the problems posed by the mismatch between the global strategy and the particular interests of neighbouring states—or, more precisely, the incompatibility between the prevailing climate and the mindset of the monopolies of guardianship exercised by some states favoured in the Balkans. This reason, as so often until now, seems to be influencing what Albanian politicians often naively call “missed opportunities.” Transformed into a tangible reality in the Albanian case, this can be seen in the slow progress and the fact that what are now officially called corridors remain mere projects. The much-touted “Corridor 8” is, in fact, a promise made to this country according to a game of fragmenting funds—or losing them. And whenever the Albanian Government finds a moment to demand an explanation for the delay or abandonment of this undertaking, its energies are, strangely, diverted to confronting a new onslaught of populist accusations and denunciations. The Executive’s weakness on this point is paradoxically all the more evident, while this undertaking of the Community institutions has, first and foremost, been entrusted to several foreign companies that won the tender and are directly siphoning off the money without giving Albania even one proper section of a “corridor.” Meanwhile, within the government itself, several ministers and former ministers move through office corridors, truly causing this country’s corridors to be lost, while it remains in search of roads and ways to shorten the distance to backwardness. During this month, the Albanian left has had a packed agenda of visits and contacts with Western capitals and heads of institutions. On closer inspection, it is not naively enthusiastic, as it was when Albanian officials and politicians first took part in the American “National Prayer Breakfast.” But the opposition, which may justify itself by carrying out its parliamentary duty, will also find, after this defeat, something called a “corridor”—but in the sense of being the one left behind, having lost its opportunities outright. And then it too will promise to find the corridor through the time that has been lost.

Tirana, 80 years as the capital of Albania Page 21/25 Edvin Murati and Noel Turner during the Malta-Albania match, 0-1 photo REUTERS