FLASH
Shkruar nga Ardit Rada
Fatos Nano was not simply the prime minister of several governments. Because for those who don't remember, in 8 years he shared the office of Prime Minister several times with Ilir Meta and Pandeli Majko. This had never happened before or since.
I don't like to write elegies for politicians who leave, especially when I have no personal or sentimental connection with them. Many of them have been raised by the media and just as many have been brought down by them. But on the day of tributes to Fatos Nano, I feel that it is impossible to remain indifferent. Not because Nano was perfect. No one who has led a country in chaos can be! But because he was the last to understand that politics is a competition, not property. And this, like no other among the politicians who came after him.
Memories connect me with him as a former student of the “Hoxha Tahsin” school, where the Nano family’s apartment was only 20 meters from my classroom window. During the period when he was in the cell, I witnessed his parents and wife coming and going full of anxiety, but also of joy when he was released from Sali Berisha’s prison. So many people gathered that day that cars used the school yard, where Viktor’s stood out, counting the weapons in the open trunk. To protect Nano from Berisha and his gangs.
But not only that. I also have a memory of the high school years when I studied at “Asim Vokshi”. It could have been May 5, 2002, years when the Socialist Party, by Nano's order and by statutory obligation, still respected LANÇ, the veterans and martyrs of anti-fascism. As a day with reduced hours, they sent us to pay homage to the Martyrs' Cemetery for May 5, and the departure was by urban buses from those standing, from the “Qemal Stafa” stadium, right in front of the central entrance. Fatos Nano, Musa Ulqini and Halil Lalaj boarded our bus filled with students and random citizens. The latter, high-ranking officials of the Socialist Party at the time. I, without noticing his presence, said loudly: “Easter and independent socialist women.” Someone turned to me, biting my lip, because you have someone behind you. It was Fatos Nano who looked me in the eye when I turned my head, smiled and said calmly: “You said it very well, independent and socialist”, and started laughing loudly with Ulqin and Lalaj as they held on to the bus tube. It was a small moment, but today, in retrospect, it seems very significant to me. It was a laugh that came from a man who understood irony, but was not afraid of it. From a prime minister who got on the bus without it being a campaign period.
Fatos Nano was the leader of the Socialist Party that had speakers like Kadri Roshi and Violeta Manushi on the tribunes. Not today's banal artists who, where the day dawns, do not darken at night and receive millions for rallies. He did not seek blind worship, but accepted the sword as a sign of freedom. It was a philosophy of thinking differently, which later became the essence of the "third way" that Edi Rama's Socialist Party embraced when it met Barack Obama and Tony Blair.
Fatos Nano was not simply the prime minister of several governments. Because for those who do not remember, in 8 years he shared the office of Prime Minister several times with Ilir Meta and Pandeli Majko. This had never happened before or since. Not even when the succeeding prime ministers complained publicly that they were tired, but they were staying awake for the good of the people. We have not seen this model and probably will not see it for several years.
Nano was the first to speak of democracy in a country where many believed that democracy was the opposite of socialism. He explained with his example that there are capitalist socialists, just as he proved to us with his successor that there are also dictatorial democrats. In this sense, Nano was more than a politician: he was a transition in his own right. From the monolithic past to a left that spoke of the market, of pluralism, of individual rights. He changed the face of Albania in the years '97-'98, when the country had fallen into the abyss of "pyramids" and civil violence. It was Nano who restored composure, who brought institutional stability, who turned the SP into a European governing party.
I want to be honest. I was also among those who came forward with protests, with banners and demands that seem naive to me today. “Why was it in Greece when some miners died in Selenica?” or “Why was the education budget 4% and not 4.5%?”. These arguments were the culmination of the accusations against Prime Minister Fatos Nano. We demanded an account, and that was right. But, 20 years later, I feel regret because then came a period where the “accountability” was no longer done with numbers, but with human lives.
Gerdeci came, where the explosion killed 26 people and injured dozens more. January 21 came, where four unarmed citizens were killed in front of the government windows. An era came where theft became doctrine and even law and no longer impressed us. And at that point, all of us who had protested against Nano for his tyranny were left speechless. Because we realized too late how thin the line is that separates freedom from anarchy and democracy from autocracy.
Nano was not afraid of losing, and this is a rare quality among Albanian politicians. He was the last to understand that leadership is not a possession, but a responsibility that must be shared.
In contrast to what happened later, where parties turned into personal properties, with leaders who cannot imagine a real competition, Nano remains a figure that you may not like, but you must respect. Because politics is ultimately measured by the standard he sets.
Today, when he is no more, it makes no sense to speak in tones of nostalgia. But it makes sense to reflect. He was a man of light and shadow, with weaknesses and ego, but he was essentially free. And this made him dangerous for all those who wanted politics as their property.
If we want to honor him honestly, the lesson from Fatos Nano's life is not simply to "remember the past," but to no longer accept parties that are not competitive, governments that are not accountable, or leaders who want to stay in power forever.
Fatos Nano understood that power is temporary, but respect is eternal. Unfortunately, we only learned this lesson after he left. Goodbye to the “station”!
Lini një Përgjigje