Thousands of hectares of forest burn. Greeks protest over the fire in Dropull. Criminal gangs attack the minority All of Albania is engulfed in flames. The government is unable to take measures pages 10–11

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA In the early hours of yesterday morning, London police arrested the eldest son of Prime Minister Tony Blair, catching him drunk on one of London’s streets after a party celebrating the end of exams. According to reports, the British Prime Minister is expected to go today to the police station at Chering Cross to learn what penalty will be imposed on his eldest heir. Such news is more than a sensation; it is a telling example for Albanian officials and our politicians in general. For years, Albanians have had to contend with the constant noise made by political groups coming to power about their aim of building a state governed by the rule of law, at least to replace the ideological state of the communist era. However, so far, such an undertaking can be considered a failure. And in this respect, the main culprits are precisely those who have held power. What happened to Tony Blair’s son brings to mind that among the other “sins” is the failure of our politicians to respect the state and its institutions. The experience of these years is full of examples in which officials vested with power have used the laws and institutions of the state as a shield, devising all kinds of machinations to place themselves in a privileged position before the law. But in doing so, they do not seem to understand that they are a mirror for all other citizens, especially when it comes to respecting the state. Even the most obscure citizen, faced with such conduct by senior officials, has the right to think that the state is merely an instrument in the hands of a handful of people who profit through its mechanisms at the expense of the rest of the population. It is easy to imagine the effect on ordinary people when those in power from all governments go so far as to protect even common criminals for personal interests. The worst part is that this can only prevent ordinary people from developing respect for the state and its laws. On the contrary, it further fosters hostility toward it, born of the experience of the dictatorial state. But it would be a mistake to blame only the people who make up the “leadership” for this. Perhaps an even greater share of the blame lies with those state administration employees who, either under pressure from above, but more often for reasons such as servility or some other motive, hesitate to enforce the law when it concerns high-ranking officials, as well as people connected to them. Thus, it is hard to believe that our police officers would act like their British colleagues in a similar case.

Panda: I could not obey the SP to condemn Berisha Page 2

The story of the “Meta 2” Cabinet. When and how the changes were decided “We are glad that a wind of change is blowing through the Government. It is your right, Mr Prime Minister, to make changes wherever you consider them necessary, even to remove Socialist names. But I think there are still ministers who have been criticized for ineffective work.” When the Minister of Local Government, Bashkim Fino, learned why the party chairman, Fatos Nano, had urgently called a meeting of the party leadership, he did not hesitate for a moment to make his customary changes. Moreover, he made it clear to those who had imposed these changes in the Government that there were other ministerial names that should also be moved—a view no one opposed. page 3