Text posts tend to get dull, even if you’re an interested reader. Why do you think newspapers have pictures in them?

Bottom line: Berisha’s PD might get the upper hand on July 4th, but Nano and his PS are fighting back by trying to keep the electorate focussed on the 1997 anarchy. What role can the new party of anti-Nano socialist Ilir Meta play?

http://www.peacelink.nu/Boker/Durham/Durham.html

Rama continues as Mayor of Tirana; Tirana continues to get slowly but steadily better. It’s definitely not Paris, but there are some nice bits now.

I’ll try to post about it in the next day or so.

Doug M.

TIRANA, Albania - This may be one of the poorest countries in Europe and its bumpy, winding roads a world away from the German autobahn, but the most popular car in Albania is the Mercedes-Benz.

More than a decade after communist rule collapsed in the Balkans, most Romanians still drive box-shaped Renault 12 copies made by the local car company, Dacia. Traveling around Serbia, you are more likely to find yourself stuck behind a sluggish Yugo or Zastava than overtaken by a shady looking businessman behind the wheel of the latest B.M.W.

But Albania is different.

Touring the dirt roads, mountain passes and highways of this coastal nation of 3.5 million people, it is possible to spot virtually every model of Mercedes produced since the 1970?s. From the plushest new S-Class to battered sedans from a bygone era, they outnumber all other brands by as much as two to one.

Shacks by the roadside in remote villages proudly advertise ?Mercedes Service? and hawkers at city center traffic lights peddle an extensive range of accessories, from alloy hub caps to leather steering wheel covers.

Where do all these luxury automobiles come from? Certainly not from the official Mercedes dealership on the outskirts of the Albanian capital, Tirana.

?We expect to sell about 50 cars this year,? said Sokol Kodra, the showroom?s chief salesman. ?The people who come to us for a new vehicle are only interested in the most expensive models and they have to pay cash.?

On average, this means handing over a pile of banknotes to the value of $65,000 - an amount that the majority of Albanians would take a lifetime to earn on their current salaries.

But for many of those who can afford a car at all, a Mercedes is the only option worth considering.

?They?re robust and powerful - ideal for the awful roads in this country - and spare parts are easy to find,? said Ilir Mansaku, a taxi driver from Tirana who owns a 1990 version of the model that evolved into the E-Class. ?They?re also a bit of a status symbol. Who wants to drive anything else if you can have a Mercedes??

At the main used car market outside Durres, Albania?s second city, the going rate for some of the older sedans is around $4,000. And there are plenty to choose from.

Several hundred polished Mercedes, mostly with German and Italian registration plates, are parked in formation in a muddy field strewn with litter and the livestock tended by subsistence farmers who live nearby.

?Have a look around,? said a man in a leather jacket, brandishing a mobile phone, who declined to give his name. ?If you can?t see what you?re looking for, you can leave us your number. There?s always a good chance something will come in.?

Most of the used vehicles on sale here appear to have been imported perfectly legally. Many still bear the temporary registration plates that allow cars to be driven out of Germany and sold on abroad, most often in Eastern Europe.

Back in 1990, when Albania threw off the Stalinist regime that had kept it isolated from the outside world for half a century, the first cars to pour into the country were decrepit old Fiats from Italy.

But an exodus of Albanians seeking work abroad soon transformed the market. Before long, people were driving back to visit their families in more impressive cars - and leaving them behind when they returned to Western Europe.

Around one million Albanians emigrated over the past decade as the economy collapsed and the country descended into anarchy at one point. The remittances they send home help keep their relatives afloat and make the dream of car ownership an attainable reality.

More importantly, the ?migr? community keeps the supply of Mercedes flowing.

?Every time I come back to Albania, I bring a Mercedes with me to sell,? said Arjan Bano, who lives in Germany but returns to visit his family at least once a year. ?I can?t afford expensive cars, but you can pick up an older one for a couple of thousand dollars and make enough money to cover the cost of your trip.?

Such entrepreneurship, more typical among Albanians than most of their Balkan neighbors, does not always respect the law.

?Many of the newest top-class cars that you see on the roads have been stolen,? an Albanian government official said. ?But they invariably come with keys and valid papers, usually because the owner has agreed to the theft in order to defraud their insurance company.?

Once in Albania, almost every Mercedes is registered legitimately with the authorities in Tirana without further checks, making it difficult to trace stolen vehicles. DaimlerChrysler, the German company that owns the Mercedes brand, wants the system changed so that chassis numbers are compared with foreign police databases before a car is issued with Albanian plates.

?This system is in force all over Europe - except in Albania,? Mr. Kodra said. ?It destroys our business if people can buy the same car from someone else for a fraction of the price.?