By Elisa Spiropali – Published on March 4, 2008
THE NEW LEADER
The old leader is like three o'clock in the morning; Too late to sleep, too early to wake up. The old leader is not like old friends, old books or old wine, which are more pleasant and effective than new friends, new books, new wine. However, even the old leader can be more effective than the new leader. But on one condition; He must be dead! Otherwise, if the old leader is both old and alive, then he is certainly even older than old, even deader than dead, worthless, useless, a hindrance.
These and others lead to the screaming necessity of the New Leader that we definitely need. But even the New Leader, although young and alive, can be dead at the same time. It seems strange. But it is not. Because it is not about an ordinary mortal who rises and sets and belongs and serves only himself, but about an extraordinary man who belongs to everyone. And, consequently, since we cannot do without a leader, because then we would be like a “flock without a shepherd”, the leader that we need must necessarily be, not a faded young man, nor a dead old man, nor even some disgustingly glowing young monster, but a beautifully glowing young man, a young young man, a living living man!
What should the New Leader be like? A bajloz who washes a pot of pork belly every morning, lifts it up with both hands and empties it straight into his mouth, a cave without a spoon or a straw?! So powerful that when he gives an electoral speech, for example in Mat with his face towards Milot, from the breath he exhales, the Bird Bridge collapses and waves rise in the Adriatic? To be able to pierce the Kalimash tunnel with a screwdriver? In the event of an energy crisis, fill the Drin basins with raki? When he feels like traveling from North to South or from West to East, walking with his paws stamping on every step of several villages? To pave the highways with the black tar of lying electoral speeches? To deepen the ports with the teeth of thieves' promises? So big that, when he gets sick, with the cycles of sneezing and coughing of the flu, he makes us all sick? And then we get tired of finding paracetamol like a millstone for the sick beast? Not at all!
This leadership model that, due to unfortunate circumstances, has been imposed on Albanians during the transitional years with leaders who fall and rise and kill and cut left and right like Skanderbeg with swords and Gjergj Elez Alira with a mace, is no longer valid, it is a dead end, full of problems, extremely dangerous, and regressive.
The New Leader, truly new, is not like the old one quantitatively, but qualitatively! The New Leader is not a monster, he is a man! The New Leader does not come, he is called! The New Leader of the Albanians does not writhe, does not crawl, nor does he climb, but descends! After being called and having descended, for the New Leader, there is neither forward nor backward, neither left nor right. There is only up and down. Forward and backward are done by everyone else, not Him!
The New Leader does not keep lackeys around, but serious, dignified people. Helpers do not come to the New Leader. He invites them. Unlike the old man who builds a pyramid, the young man builds a Cathedral. The New Leader's cathedral of politics and power is not built with visitors, but with guests. Just as the people needed and invited Him, He invites them. The New Leader is self-sufficient from any point of view. The New Leader is impersonal! For the New Leader, boasting is the greatest abomination. He never says "I". The New Leader neither loves nor does he love the people. He has been called by the people, to do a job, to perform a service.
The New Leader never lies to his people. He does not hide even the bitter truths from the people. For example, he tells them that among them there are quite a few who revolt against corruption and theft for the sole reason that they themselves are not capable of stealing and entering the corrupt chain to benefit from it.
The New Leader does not deal with newspapers and televisions. He neither reads nor sees them – he does them! The New Leader, in contrast to the old leader, builds a society of the majority in the increase of the honest, thoughtful and the minority in the decrease of the dishonest, desperate. The New Leader appears far away. So far away that he is barely visible. And he has the appearance of a threatened man. But he is close! The old one comes and stays very close. And he is visibly invading and threatening. But he is effectively far away!
The higher the Young Leader climbs, the less free, the more obligated he feels. Meanwhile, the higher the Old Leader climbs, the easier, freer, and unobligated he feels, until when he reaches the top he thinks he can do, and does, everything without being accountable to anyone. The Young Leader has and maintains only working relationships with those close to him, that is, with his subordinates, not emotional ones. The Young Leader is liked more by those who stay as far away from him as possible. The Old Leader keeps only obedient lackeys close to him, disgusting hounds who pretend to love him, while he is hated by everyone else.
The New Leader loves Albania and the Albanians as much as himself. The old one loves himself as much as the whole world. The New Leader does not feel like a leader at all, but a servant. The old one feels, as he really is, a despot, a king. The New Leader is an architect of destinies! The New Leader is a navigator of the heavens! The New Leader is an engineer of Freedom! The old leader, this monstrous combination of numbers is a deafening war drum. The New Leader is a sound, a voice, a cry, coming out of the priceless violin called Freedom!
