Italian deputy and Albanian friends are stopped in Corfu while sailing on a yacht with an Albanian flag. His outrage at the Greeks. He came to Tirana in 2007 for the extradition of Albanian criminals EXCLUSIVE/ Senator Alberto Maritati’s adventure as a tourist among Albanian-Greek waters The news Greek military officers stopped Senator Alberto Maritati of the Italian Democratic Party while he was sailing in Greek waters in a speedboat with an Albanian flag, in the company of an Albanian family, heading toward the island of Erikousa, where he has a villa. According to the testimony of the Italian politician himself, the Greeks suspected the vessel was being used to transport illegal migrants and reacted very badly because the craft was flying an Albanian flag. In the photo: Italian deputy Alberto Maritati (circled) after disembarking on the island of Corfu, where he was stopped by the Greek border police TIRANA It was supposed to be just a routine Sunday boat ride, but for Senator Alberto Maritati of the Italian Democratic Party it ended in... ► continued on page 9

Comment BY AFRIM KRASNIQI A corrupt “meritocracy” system The main slogan of the current government with regard to public administration, as with previous governments, has been and remains the promise of lawful conduct, based on merit and ability. The need for an effective, stable and independent civil service is also one of the 12 European Union criteria for Albania. Because of this importance, in almost every ministerial and parliamentary grandiloquent speech, in the government’s official reports to parliament, in the government’s meetings with the European Union delegation, or in other reports sponsored by the state budget and international donors, recent years have stressed the great achievements in strengthening the quality and meritocracy component in public administration. The logic is simple: a few qualification and appointment figures are given, they are compared with the period before 2005, and thus the impression is created that everything is positive. In this propagandistic context, in real life for every citizen (not government official), it is clear that the selective, fitness-based and militant practices of recruitment, promotion and the status of administration and civil servants in Albania have produced a closed system.... ► continued on page 8

INTERVIEWS ► Pages 4-5 Blendi Klosi: In 2013, an anti-Berisha coalition without logos The Organizational Secretary of the SP speaks about September. Kreshnik Spahiu: In the elections without Berisha

YESTERDAY PRESENTATION Ylli Zyla takes over the Military Police He resigned over arms trafficking, rewarded by Berisha. He will be wiretapping again TIRANA HABJON HASANI The Ministry of Defense has “recycled” former SHIU chief Ylli Zyla into the post of Commander of the Military Police, after he resigned following the scandal involving ties to several arms dealers.... ► Pages 2-3

BEER FESTIVAL ► Page 17 Niko Peleshi: All roads lead to Korçë The mayor’s account of the five days of a festival that outgrew local dimensions

NAMES MISSING ► Page 6 The sea border, a deception with the negotiating team

BOOK ON ÇAMËRIA ► Pages 18-19 Lisen Bashkurti: How the ordeal for Çamëria began

SPECTACULAR KIDNAPPING ► Page 10 The Albanian escapes from the Greek prison hospital

10TH ANNIVERSARY OF DEATH ► Pages 20-21 ILIRIAN ZHUPA: TEODOR KEKO IN THE 1980s In memoriam for the poet and writer

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