THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE U.S. AMBASADOR
By KOLEC TRABOINI
Hello dear Ambassador of my country, in my country. It is
understandable why i address you like this so, because fate brought me to have
two homelands. I have followed with the utmost attentione your tireless
efforts to bring together those who stay extremely far from each other in the
stages and backstage scenes of Albanian politics. As i have felt good about
your good intentions and disposition, however i feel extremely disspointed
seeing the extreme poles of albanian politics. Undoubtly you must feel disappointed
at this duplicty in albanian politics or the fact that some may have benefited
from your openness and your love for this country and this people, and perhaps
they even might have ended up to be treacherous.
We Albanians,
historically have been known for the dinstinctive and striking feature among
other peoples, for that of generosity and “besa”. When someone came the
Albanian home in “besa”, even if he had killed from that family’s men, he was
received and sent off according to the tradition of giving “besa”. No one
could be killed “on the bread”, otherwise shame owould cover that household .
So powerful was this sense of “besa”, always told as legends, but these legends
have arisen from a reality of events that are in popular memory alive even
today.
The
Fascist Italy capitulated in September 1943. Their place was taken by German
Nazi troops , who excecuted any italian soldiers and officers left in Albania,
as they were considered defecters. The executions took place without trials.
The
German troops in Shkodra had received a notice about an italian soldier hiding
in a Greater Highland village sheltered by the mountain families. Once the
german troops surrounded the house, they ordered all its inhabitants to go
outside in the yard. The German officer began looking into the family members
faces, one by one, but never seemed to distinguish who was the italian soldier,
as he was integrated in the lives of locals and was not distinguishable. The
German officer sure of the italian soldier presence there, gave orders that
if they did not disclose who the italian was, all would be shot to deth because
they had sheltered an enemy. One of the young men in that house, after
exchanging a look with his father eye to eye, then made a step forward and
said: "I am." The German officer carefully looked, and despite the
doubts that he had, ordered his execution before the entire family. Later in
his memories the German officer wrote: "I knew that he was the son of the
house, he was an Albanian and not the Italian , but such were the laws of war.
That Albanian familiy under Albanian law of “besa” could not deliver the
Italian and sacrificed his own son.”
This
is not myth, but a real event. But in fifty years, under communism and twenty
years of democratic chaos, many virtues are violently distorted and today we
are in a miserable state. I'm not talking about ordinary people, because
ordinary people always maintains their dignity, but for the political classes
as they alternate their leading of this country from a chaos into another.
Albania
has a great obligation to America, because there is no other state or nation
that has done more for Albanians. Liberation and independence Kosovo Albanians
is the crown of glory for ever and ever and we will never forget the Americans
and NATO allies. This is why the American ambassador is received with the hands
over their hearts at every door he may go, considered a great friend of the
Albanians, namely that he is representative of the state of George Washington,
the inspiring force of the freedom of peoples. I am pleased to say that my own
father it probably was the first Albanian who wrote about the great Washington
in an article titled : "Tell the truth always", dated October 18,
1907.
How
is the U.S. Ambassador’s attention and intentions of positive developments in
Albania, in order for this country to approach the community of the peoples of
Europe, being perceived by the politicians of Albania?
As
far as i understand, Albanian political behavior towards his friends' advice
at large leaves much to be desired.
Albanian politics does not exceed
provincial judgmental mediocrity. To understand it you must first understand
the psychology of small Bey in his manors of the Middle Ages. Also there is
tremendous impact even from a great lonely Pasha during the Ottoman Empire, Ali
Pasha, whose conflict with the high Gate did not bring anything good to
Albanians, instead created the premises for the independence of Greece and the
destruction of Albanian ethnic lands. Ali Pasha's policy consisted in building
a personal Paschallek, and not a state of the Albanians, not finding any spirit
of cooperation with other pashas as Bushtallinjtë of Shkodra. Instead he
entered in conflict with them and he could not wait to make them disappear, as
he did with his son-in-law, the pasha of Berat. This clever and the crafty
Pasha, who had made his name across European regions, has had a major impact on
the entire Albanian politics. Albanians did not accept for a long time a foreign
prince, Vid, on the contrary in the first case they kicked him out, trying to
operate in Albania in Ali Pasha style. We have Esat Pasha Toptani, who was
ready to give away Albania’s pieces to neighbors as long as he had one piece of
territory in central Albania for himself. The story continues with his
grandson, Ahmet Zog, who mixed the cruel craftiness of Ali Pasha with a kind of
practicality trying to keep his possessions in a balance between Serbia, which
had brought him to power and Fascist Italy that helped keep his monarchy
regime on his feet. The arrival of Communists in power did not change much in
the mentality of people of Albanian politics. Enver Hoxha was a true Ali Pasha,
who ruled with an iron fist and set an absolute power over his people. Nothing
could be done without being filtered by his apparattus, the puppets of the
Politic bureau. Traits for which the Albanian people was distinguished in
history, bravery and loyalty, it was deformed in the most violent way, hence
surpassing all previous rulers.
No
more talk about courage was possible, as Albanians were cruely oppressed and
there was not one single chance of resistance. Who has lived in a dictatorship
know’s that Albanians had become a shadow of themselves. There could be no talk
of loyalty, what was considered the top trait of the Albanians for centuries,
called the people of “besa”. But what “besa” could we talk when people were
forced to spy on each other, even within a family? Loss of traditional traits
by which Albanians previously had been taking pride and honor in, were a big
loss, and that was the sad moral state that Albanians found themselves in at
the beginning of Democracy, when Communism began to collapse as an ideology.
Numerous events that occurred in conditions of freedom explain this and the
rulers always tried to deform the dignity of Albanian character, his high
qualities of courage and “besa”, because that how the ruling could be easily
sustained.
Certainly
the American ambassador praises the Albanian qualitative traditions, and is trying
to be more forthright with them, with both ordinary people and the whole policy
makers or the state hierarchy. But unlike ordinary people, hierarchs not only
do not understand the sincerity of the U.S. Ambassador to Albania, but misuse
it. Hierarchs of the politics are masters of manipulation, even manage to
manipulate and deceive the name of the ambassador. For, once escaped from a
case of corruption, thanks to corrupt judges, a political person has taken the
opportunity to drink a coffee with the ambassador and has sold this as a
friendly coffee to wash the soiled personality, to stand in front of the media
as a pure man of this country, for which the American ambassador has special
consideration. And not just this case. The emergence of a “burnt”personality as
a candidate for president, who was prime minister in a critical situation when
the country was shocked, he fled the country with his tail in his legs, in the
neighboring state, was followed by meeting with the U.S. ambassador. His
people conveyed the message from his campaign headquarters that the
presidential candidate had the support of Americans. This may not be true, but
such was sold to the media.
There
is an insulting use by the hundred and twenty Albanian political parties
phalanges of all the meetings with the ambassadors of foreign countries, that
may well be held as private and without the media.
Albanian
politicians are cunning enough to use every opportunity given to them, to
affirm themselves and therefore this does not exclude any, from the simplest
clerk to the head of state. On one hand they have a discusting servility and
on the other, after they make the best of the moment, they throw it out as a
lemon without a drop of juice.without hesitation. There are those who glorify
the current ambassador and demonize the former ambassadors, because here in our
country the politician’s moto is the aphorism - "I passed the river, the
heck with your horse."
What
happened to the presidential elections which were held as a masked carnival
parades where initially they attract the American Ambassador to this dance. An
insidious game of the Albanian policymakers, which only an Ali Pasha Tepelena
could devise so beautifully. They presented a candidate who had not a single
issue with his past as he came from the legislative rather than political
branch and kept him under tension until the moment came where he was not
needed anymore. Because that non-political figure, as Europe sought and as
America had advised, was supposed to win the politicians the approval of the
U.S. Ambassador and EU diplomats, who could then say that - Yes, Albanian
politicians listen to us, they are proposing a non-party candidate, so thing
are on track in Tirana.
They
exploited not only the man named Xhezair Zaganjori, but also all the diplomats
who were engaged probably more than needed in this case of the president, who
mostly settled for being a marionette of the politics. The engagement of the
American ambassador has been open, frank and constructive, but unfortunately
gave no result as the great grandchildren of Ali Pasha in Albanian politics
want full command of their vilayet and at the speed of light, picked up a
choice of their political avant-garde, so they can expand the power in all
instances/institutions and eventually legalizing the impossiblity of punishing
the corrupt statesmen.
With
this choice the power is consolidated and the affairs are closed. Who dares any
more, in this state, to acuse a corrupt minister? No one. After this election
will undoubtedly have a dumbfounded people, because already “Maliqi “ will make
the llaw and will put on and lay off across all levels of government who ever
he wishes.... "L'état, c'est moi" - I'm the state - said Louis XIV.
No
doubt an ambassador of a great country like America, can not be quiet before
this mascarade. A reaction was expected, but diplomacy requires that feedback
be soft and more implicit. He failed to appear in parliament and sent a
secretary. But Ali Pashas of Albanian politics feigning not to understand,
overlook the fact that the American ambassador, who took part in several
events associations, could not to attend the assembly session where President
of Albania was being elected. An act of disharmony.
People
actually understood his message, the media accepted with half voice, but those
for whom his absence was intended, pretended as it had not happened.
The
second action was the ambassador’s appeal, advice or suggestion: "Act
now!" Which was really a nice move, but unfortunately late. In some media
someone tried to deviate this cardinal call, diverting it to the extent that it
was a call to Albanian society that girls must continue their secondary
education and parents should not prevent them. A banal misuse of a great idea
into a problem that had no connection with the call in question. But someone
was interested in political circles to minimize the echo of its effect.
However,
this call is a long overdue because people are tired and exhausted. There is no
more will to opposse, because people are seeing all these polictical moves
which include even the names the ambassadors, saying that all works are solved
up there, they also have support from outside, drink coffee with ambassadors
.... and who asks for us. And the result, the major and meaningful appeal of
the American ambassador "Act Now!", as it is time that citizens of
this country, civil society to say stop to the politics spirited in confrontation,
politics that damage Albania’s entrance to the EU, that Constructivism is more
benefiting than than typical Albanian politicsdeconstructivism, so these ideas,
though useful are not doing their effect.
One
must understand that this non-reaction, that people know their politicians and
know that in every politician, statesman or Albanian parliament member sleeps a
little Ali Pasha, who for their own narrow interests are ready to sell Albania
and Albanians to the Devil.
They
unfortunately did not preserve any feature of the Albanian good traditions of
goodness and “besa”. They do not truly represent the people, even though they
buy the parliamentary elections by lying and stealing their votes. People know
that it is just to give the vote and that’s it. After that people are never
asked. It never happens that if there is a problem, where either central or
local area residents are asked how to deal with it. But certainly the rulers do
violently interfere and often do as they please. In America you can not operate
a local cafe on a street without a debate be tween residents of the area who
are able to close its operation if necessary, because the people’s word
carried weight. While in Albania it may just be brought every garbage of the
world, even radiocative ones, without asking anyone! Even a popular referendum
initiative is bound to be found with a hundred obstacles precisely to prevent
that person that enjoys the consent of the government to the CEC(The Central
Election Commission), known internationally that made the mess even with the
municipal elections in Tirana.
Therefore,
the title "Act now!", sounds delayed and without even more that after
21 January 2011 until today people publicly saw four murders and those responsible
are not punished. People, seeing being taxed more than anywhere in other
vountries with higher welfare, seeing that no government or ruler caught red
handed is not condemned, seeing that parliamentary immunity is a good tool to
stimulate the galloping corruption, seeing that each and every day they become
poorer and rich become richer, seeing that the most unscrupulous are the
masters of this country, seeing that the parliament has the most members with
bought degrees and are people with no personality, seeing that twenty years is
not changing anything in this country, seeing all these, the people prefer to
fall in a lethargic sleep.
No calls any longer awakens this
people ....perhaps will probably wake up when this country is rrocked by the
flaming fire, but that would be a horrible awakening and not without
consequences for the popular psyche.
Nga Libri me esé “Zhgënjimi i ambasadorit amerikan” Kolec Traboini, Pantheon Books Tiranë 2012, faqe 9- 27
