Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08TIRANA805
2008-11-10 15:24:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Tirana
Cable title:  

Embassy Tirana Weekly Report

Tags:  PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM AL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO7631
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHTI #0805 3151524
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 101524Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TIRANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7576
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
UNCLAS TIRANA 000805 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM AL
SUBJECT: Embassy Tirana Weekly Report

Pundits and Politicians Agree: U.S. Truly Democratic
--------------------------------------------- -------

UNCLAS TIRANA 000805

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EUR/SCE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV ENRG EFIN PREL PHUM AL
SUBJECT: Embassy Tirana Weekly Report

Pundits and Politicians Agree: U.S. Truly Democratic
-------------- --------------


1. Throughout the several months preceding the U.S. Presidential
Election, major dailies carried local experts' comments on the U.S.
electoral campaign and potential policy changes for the Balkans and
Albania. Most concluded that whoever would emerge president-elect,
U.S. policy toward Albania was not going to change, arguing that
both tickets were strong supporters of Albania and Kosovo.


2. Major TV stations in Albania turned Washington into a virtual
battle ground, vying for the "best U.S. election coverage" prize.
They deployed crews to Washington, led by their most prominent news
editors and figures, offering commentary, analysis, and live
coverage. Other more modest TV stations tried to catch up by
offering local perception of the significance of an African-American
running for President of the U.S. through street interviews and
mini-polls. The commentaries following the announcement of Barack
Obama as President-elect predicted that Obama's presidency will be
historic and that U.S. policy toward Albania, with Joe Biden as VP,
will remain unchanged.


3. And the U.S. election served well the IlDeBaSpS b`d to selL A "n%w podhthcs," promise to Albanians, called Kbama's
elecdion victory "The most spectacular example of new politics." On
the other hand, for PM Berisha, "Obama's victory is the realization
and most major transformation of the American dream into reality."


4. Commentators, analysts and politicians agreed that the electoral
campaign, the voting itself, the election of the first
African-American to be President, as well as John McCain's moving
concession speech, were telling of a truly democratic country. A
lonely voice in the crowd of enthusiastic U.S. election commentators
attempted to relate the lessons of the U.S. election to the local
reality of an erratic election system and the
"fight-till-the-bitter-end" campaign mentality, exclaiming: "We're
so good at talking about elections in the U.S.!"

New Definition for Bribe: A Tip For Outstanding Service
-------------- --------------


5. The Task Force on Financial Crimes arrested last week two
well-known surgeons on charges of corruption in a first-ever law
enforcement operation targeting the pervasive culture of bribery in
Albanian public hospitals. Following two separate and unrelated
police operations, the Head of the Oncological Surgical Department
and the head of the Surgical Unit at the Prison Hospital were found
in possession of cash ranging from $ 200 to $600, allegedly received
from patients shortly after performing an operation. The two
doctors have so far denied the charges, and one of them has been
remanded to house arrest following a court hearing. One of the
accused reportedly said, "I get whatever cash is given to me as a
gift, I ask for no bribes." The recent arrests, however, have sent
shock waves through the medical profession, with doctors privately
expressing their anger at being punished for a practice that was
considered almost a right for doctors in Albania in the last decade.



6. Commenting on the arrests, many regular citizens have said that
were the law to be enforced across the health sector, law
enforcement authorities would have to shut down the entire sector
and arrest everyone working there. It is common knowledge in
Albania that you have to pay under the table for any service you
receive at public hospitals. Informal prices exist for all types of
operations or treatments. So far, however, the accepted wisdom is
that such bribery is necessary to compensate for the doctor's low
salary. The recent law enforcement arrests have greatly upset the
status-quo and sent alarm signals throughout the Public Health
administration.

Quote of the Week
--------------


7. "It is the victory of a new generation. It is the victory of
hope and dreams, just as was the leitmotif of a campaign built on
the conviction that hope should overcome fear and the future should
overcome the delusion of the past...It is the most spectacular
example of new politics and the overcoming of the boundaries between
the right and the left . . .I am confident that the world today woke
up in a new spirit, one which undoubtedly Albania and the Albanian
people are feeling too." - Socialist Party Chairperson Edi Rama,
commenting on the Presidential Election results in the US.

WITHERS