Yesterday, the trial was held concerning Dritan Avdyli’s request to change the security measure. For the first time, his little 9-year-old son meets his father in the dock Father and son stand embracing before the court, while the Avdyli family accuses district prosecutor Jano of corruption in his charges page 9

BY GAVROSH LEVONJA

A photograph from 1991, when Fatos Nano was seeking cooperation with Berisha to divide power. Unfortunately, the intellectual Genc Ruli is standing between them.

By Gavrosh Levonja Although a glance at the names of those seeking the Tirana Municipality may make it easy to spot some who have enjoyed popularity in the recent past, before becoming involved in politics and even before building bridges to it. And today, when there is much talk about turning toward what is called civil society, such names would have every chance of attracting a considerable portion of the electorate. Normally, people such as Haxhia, Rama, Mustafaj and others, with reputations and the sympathy of certain sections of the electorate, could easily have entered the race for the capital’s Municipality as completely independent candidates, without needing to represent the colors of any political party, regardless of the influence of sympathies and connections they may have. But the truth is that figures like these, whatever their stature, although respected for what they may have contributed to society, are compelled to run under the banner of a particular political force. This tendency to run under a party’s flag is first and foremost an expression of a lack of confidence in one’s own potential. But, besides this, it must be acknowledged that the Albanian electorate has not freed itself from the mindset of voting for the individual more than the party. The fact is that the experience of these years, with very rare exceptions, has borne out this conclusion. Often, prominent figures in various fields of the country’s life, when they have competed in different elections, have found themselves soundly defeated by unknowns while running for a second-rate political force. But, one way or another, competing while representing a political party’s colors clearly compromises the role and involvement of people from civil society in the various branches of power. Specifically, judging by the public appearances of such candidates so far, political terminology appears to dominate, even though politics has little influence—one might even say it has a negative influence—on solving the problems faced by Albanian citizens. On the other hand, at a time when Albanian political parties are suffering a crisis of public figures as a result of the discrediting of some of their protagonists, representatives of civil society, by running on their lists, are filling the resulting vacuum in this area, while risking losing a great deal of their own reputations.