"Renaissance" Pordhacët/ The political leader of one of the poorest regions in Albania, Arbjan Mazniku, receives 12 salaries

2025-05-02 08:58:00, Opinione Ermal Mulosmani

"Renaissance" Pordhacët/ The political leader of one of the

First of all, I apologize for using the word “pordhac” because for many of you it may not seem like the right word. But, despite my efforts to replace it with a more appropriate word, I was unable to find another word in the Albanian dictionary that would come close to it! The word “burravec” does not have the vain and inflated emptiness that the word “pordhac” creates. Now let me get to the content of this article.

At the beginning of September, two scandalous news stories appeared in our media, one after the other. The first reported that the Minister of Justice, Ms. Etilda Gjonaj, slept in a hotel in Rome and the bill showed 700 Euros/night. The second reported that Arbjan Mazniku, deputy mayor of Tirana, slept for two nights at the Alma Hotel in Barcelona, ??for 1816 Euros. To make the second news even more scandalous, the hotel payment was made by the oligarch known as the main client of Tirana Municipality, Mr. Shkëlqim Fusha.

These two pieces of news were very sensational because people perceive very easily what 700 or 906 Euros a night in a hotel means than, let alone 110 million Euros which is the fine against Becchet. For example, my mother understands that a hotel room in Rome can cost 40, 50, 70 or 100 Euros. Qameti 150 Euros. But telling my mother that the Albanian Minister slept with 700 Euros in one night gets on her nerves.

Even my little son doesn't understand the 104 million Euros that the Albanian Government forgave to Bankers Petroleum (the American Oil Company), but when I told him that Etilda's room for one night costs "a pallaskë" (that's what he calls 500 Euros) and two greenbacks, he rolled his eyes.

"We would have gone on vacation for a week as a family," he told me. "Yes, Dad, but we are not Ministers," I told him. "Ministers have status, they can't sleep in any kind of hotel like us poor people."

The most complex problem is in the case of Deputy Mayor Mazniku. The payment of 1816 Euros for two nights was made by the main beneficiary of public money administered by Mr. Mazniku. I don't know what the suffragist Mazniku of the 2005s, the visionary activist of a well-governed Albania, would say about this pure corruption affair!

I remember the Kosovo media taking the breath away of the Mayor of Pristina, Shpend Ahmeti, for a few minutes' visit to the private yacht of a well-known Kosovo oligarch. Although nothing proved any other connections between them, no paid invoices, no trace of corruption!

But, leaving aside corruption (Maznik's unfair profiteering from Fusha), could Mr. Mazniku refuse to sleep in a hotel that cost 1816 Euros for two nights?! How can a leftist-rightist afford this luxury?! Or here too, the symptom of status emerges. So, he could have done it too, but his status did not allow it.

The Government's serviles appeared in the media explaining to us that we were hormonal, ignorant and uninformed, that 700 Euros were nothing. They are the same serviles who always appear in the media to defend the Government. It depends on who is in a hurry. That day it was Dritan's turn. He informed us that Berisha had also done it in New York. Is this a reason not to criticize the Minister! If Berisha did it (he did very badly) and we did not know about it then, should we remain silent today too? No, Mr. servile, the reason that "they stole worse" is to curse them too, not to not curse these people.

In addition to them, there were also those who spoke to us about the status of the Minister...

"The status of wool" - it comes out of my soul. Which Albanian has the status to pay 700 Euros a night?! We are the poorest country in Europe and we boast as if we are Britain or France. To explain the megalomania of the little one, in this case a real event from the late 90s in Albanian cinematography comes to my aid.

At an International Film Festival, a film by one of the young Albanian directors of that time was shown. At the end of the film, at the moment when the subtitles were shown, the audience asked the director what was written under Kadri Roshi's name. It said People's Artist. The director, put in a position in front of his colleagues, came up with something to get out of the situation. He couldn't explain to them why the people mixed with the artists, why the people had once given them titles.

As soon as he returned to Albania, at a large meeting of the then Kinostudio, he proposed removing such completely outdated and meaningless titles and introducing modern concepts such as "With the extraordinary participation of Kadri Roshi".

For a moment there was understanding, but for a short time. The serviles of the time rose up with pathetic speeches like "This is a title of vital contribution that the Albanian people have given to their artists and there is no France or England that can question it" etc. etc. One after another, each servile lynch the talented director until he regretted having opened his mouth.

"It's a status," the director's colleagues would scold him, even though he only thought of modernizing that meaningless status. Once, from the back of the room, an experienced filmmaker with a voice known for his jokes stood up and said, "Okay, okay, we're writing Artist of this kind of people"!

That was the end of the discussion.

Even the status of Minister or Deputy Mayor is honored by frugality. Former President of Uruguay, Jose Mujica, lived in a two-room shack and donated 90% of his salary to the needy. Because Uruguay's "status" was not for farts and he loved Uruguay.

As for the young rich (which includes Mrs. Gjonaj and Mr. Mazniku), the issue of status is explained very well by the writer Hernan Casciari when he says:

"The young rich man knows. He knows that it is chance, not effort, that is the cause of his economic boom. He knows that life can take everything away from him as quickly as it gave it. The young rich man needs to detach himself from the common people. Because status - the young rich seem to say - is choosing who can steal from you and who cannot."