DIKUL - logo
E-resources
Full text

  • BBC Monitoring European, 04/2011
    Newsletter

    There is no doubt that for years both sides of the political class in Albania have been sustained by behaving with conviction and with a temperate submissiveness towards the 'international players', not only the Americans, but also the Greeks. For many reasons -- maybe one of the major reasons being that the political classes here are enjoying less and less popular support -- they look for international support from the 'Great Powers' at any cost. They understand that the only way to gain support is to behave like an obedient student when work, orders, requests or ultimatums from international diplomats are given in absolute terms. Some examples are the 'signature' with former Greek Foreign Affairs Minister Bakojanis Dora Bakoyannis over the sea border, Berlusconi's Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi repeated and open request for "Albanian females," and Ambassador Christopher Dell's text messages that sent an ultimatum order to Kosovo's leaders in the Assembly about the choice of Pacolli as president of the Republic. No subordinate of the Italian emperor, Jakomoni Count Francesco Jacomoni, minister to the Kingdom of Albania, from 1936 to 1939, would have acted in such a way over appointments in the traitor government of Tirana. Already the uncertainty of the elections has created an unusual atmosphere where it is rare that someone sleeps a night without pondering the manipulation of Sali Berisha's 'professional' clan. Today there is not an Albanian who does not doubt that these elections will include manipulation, theft, vote rigging, and so on. However, no one can say precisely how. There are voices who claim that it can be said to a poor man: lend me your identity card on 8 May so that you can earn five thousand leks for nothing. I am not sure how true this might be, but the fact that such rumours are circulating explains the climate that dominates. In this highly charged political climate, violence between militants in Kamez, Bathore, and Pogradec, and slander and mutual run-ins between 'election flags and tents' are nothing other than the prologue to this soccer match, where they are playing for life and death and where the 'me or you' mentality already seems normal. Furthermore, as in soccer matches, in politics it seems normal to buy or sell the match, or to pay off the judges. Now, on the right there are allies of the left, former sworn enemies. This is not only the parties but also prominent analysts and vice versa. Today no one is surprised by political transvestites, on the contrary, moral 'inconsistency' is called emancipation, value, democratic development, a real opportunity to quickly become rich and famous! All of these things added together are the foundation of tomorrow's instability.