Minister Çelo Provokes War
After Berisha's visit to Elbasan, 5 killed in Cërrik
The decree setting the election date was immediately accompanied by an increase in the number of murders and a new dimension to crime. The Ministry of the Interior continues to have the situation out of control, and, worse still, the irresponsible actions of Minister Çelo make it even worse. He appoints people with no reputation to head police stations, without reaching agreement with the State Secretary for Internal Affairs. The most blatant case is that of Elbasan, where the police station chief was dismissed without any reason and replaced by a “strongman” to serve during the elections. The choice of a man from Tropojë to maintain order in Elbasan was met not only with indignation, but also with immediate protests from the city's residents. But no one listened to their voices, and the opposition took the form of an armed revolt. Terrified by the panic caused by the gunfire, citizens shut themselves in their homes, while armed groups surrounded the police station to force the new chief to leave. But just when Minister Çelo was expected to calm the situation by rescinding his order, special forces from Tirana arrived in Elbasan. Just days earlier, they had suffered the consequences of an ill-judged and violent intervention in the town of Gramsh. They met the same fate in Cërrik, with a tragic toll: 5 police officers killed. The killers undoubtedly bear grave responsibility and must be found, but the person who ordered the forces to be sent into such a conflict is just as responsible. The bloody incident in Cërrik is no accident. It is part of the destabilizing scenario of those sabotaging the Government of National Reconciliation; it is the work of irresponsible people who want to plunge the people into a new war, adding more innocent lives to the hundreds already killed; it is the work of those who destroy bridges and arm Albanians from the North to kill the rest of the Albanians; it is the work of those who came to power through killings, arson and destruction, and who are leaving it in the same way. The people know who they are, and have risen up in revolt against them.