The Prime Minister warns that the police cannot become a tool of politics, but that it will forcibly stop any of Berisha’s rallies at the right time and in the right moment A burnt door of the Prime Minister’s Office, of little importance compared with the political misuse by the Democratic Party page 3

BY MARTIN LEKA The Albanian government is facing the most difficult test of its work. Perhaps not because of the immediate consequences, but because of how it will handle future tests, which, in all likelihood, will involve greater burdens and greater challenges in a calmer situation. How could yesterday’s events have been met more calmly? In any case, the real point is that the lack of violence is enough for us to know that the government’s response dictated it. The pilots have other things to do; the government must maintain composure, especially in yesterday’s situation. The enraged and angry citizens turned to their prime minister, venting their anger all the way up to the government. Government debates in the street, in government and in calm settings were turned into demonstrative actions. Now that the government is under scrutiny, even what it may do under the law must be done prudently, so that it is known when enforcement targets the opponents of the majority, just as when it is applied to the supporters of the majority. The police and all law-enforcement structures, which do their work normally in the name of the state without being provoked in any way, from this point of view and not because of the violence of the protesters, something that was proven without hesitation, found themselves uncertain in dealing with the country’s angry citizens. The threat to public order did not arise from Berisha’s rallies, nor is insecurity created only by distributing leaflets and blocking a capital city with aggressive words. The danger to the government does not come from thieves, bandits, anarchists, or leaflets. It stems from the government’s lack of professionalism in managing unrest, with which citizens fought and society; crime and terror are not understood by officials; movements that bring all insecurity into focus. The first is hesitation, with imagination shaped by experience and exchange. They seem not to notice or distinguish this problem. This is a major transfer of responsibility: the police’s incompetence is matched by the government’s lack of professionals and lack of people aware of their roles. Unable to manage politics, peace is in danger, a strong reason showing that it is very easy to escalate from calm to violence. These no longer resemble a loss to some revanchist dream, but the creation of a situation in which all sides can be tested head-on. No insecurity is created by threats without weapons or by the quiet and clear mother of the unthinking criminal society that acts in its name. Criminals, thieves, murderers, anarchists move downward and diminish. No one dies in battle with the imagination of a weakened police force and a weakened country. It proves its income, as does the one identified with society, or those who burn and overthrow their government. Yesterday’s burning of the door of the Prime Minister’s Office with a Molotov cocktail thrown over the fence is highly significant. It is happening; the police cannot avoid it, but its force, in the right place at the right time, must not be lost because the government is being confronted head-on. It must not lose control of the management of the fire, the noise of the tsunami of the Democratic Party, but rather of the day’s aggressors who, in their attack of tension, display many desires to attack the poles; the larger community causes a civic anger. If we leave Berisha’s protests at a low level, the stabilization of life for government and governance will not come from a clear, lifeless figure beneath the noise of Molotov cocktails. This makes the clarity of this system and the government of a disintegrating chaos weak when it supports its own judgment, more convincing for anti-Albanian circles that are chosen by society and end up approaching the community. page 3

Rapid and fair changes at the top of the Ministry of Public Order LATE-BREAKING NEWS The ministry decided to dismiss the director from his post, Director General of the State Police, and Colonel Bilbil Mema took his place. Niko Braho remained Deputy Director General of the Police, while Colonel Arjan Doko became Director General of the Criminal Police and SHIK. The Minister of Public Order replaced Lieutenant Colonel Shkëlzen Maliqi. Also Colonel Vasil Billi. These changes and new appointments apparently replaced Lieutenant Colonel Xhemal Stan. Also Colonel Arjan Bidi, deputy director of the Special Forces Directorate, and soon changes at the Ministry of Public Order. page 9 Myt?os

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