FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
One of Fatos Nano's closest associates and longtime head of his government Cabinet, Saemira Pino, wrote a heartfelt and emotional message on the passing of the historic leader of the Socialist Party in a Facebook post.
Pino recounts how they were born a few days apart after their mothers were pregnant with them at the same time. Later, as students, in schools not far from each other, "we competed separately in Olympiads and competitions," Pino writes.
Saemira tells how they were together again as lecturers at the faculty, and finally at the Prime Minister's Office, where Pino was Nano's head of government.
Saemira Pino's full post:
Today, dear Fatos, you will only be praised… by friends and opponents. It is in our tradition. Good or bad, I cannot say. You prepared us for weeks in a row for this bad day and this bitter news, in your own, atypical way, as with many of your behaviors.
Together we have traveled a long road... You reached the end of it earlier than us your peers.
I would very much like you to be with us longer, on this journey of life, because you would always know what to say, suggest or correct. You loved this country, as a modern and visionary politician. Much will be said, witnessed and written about your political legacy. I do not have this intention today.
We “met” in the distant September of 1952, when chance found our mothers in a room, in the only maternity hospital in Tirana, where we both received special care. You were the third child in the family, the first and only son, the great joy of Maria, the rare but not so young woman. My mother was only 21 years old, and she continued with a daughter even after me, who was the second. And Maria would say to her with humor and kindness “you are born, my child is born too…” You were born a few days after me.
Later, as students, in schools not far from each other, we competed separately in Olympiads and competitions. My aunt, the strict math teacher at the “Hoxha Tahsim” school in the 60s, would always claim that you were the most brilliant student she had ever had. You “rewarded” her on the day of her untimely death, describing it as: An institution!
We were together again in the beautiful company of the “Sami Frashëri” high school, where you stood out for your intelligence, the foreign languages that you quickly and beautifully acquired, as well as for your “rebellions”. Particularly defiant to the unprepared public, when you never hid your great love for Rexhina when you were very young, 16-17 years old, hand in hand with Rexhina, in the high school yard, on the street, in guitar actions, you seemed to be announcing a new era, as you did in politics. Meanwhile, you were and remain a good friend to all your classmates. Anyone who later asked you for support, you did your best, within the possibilities and logic of the request.
In the 1970s-80s, we met again on the committees of formative or postgraduate examinations, now as lecturers.
You came "from above" as an external lecturer, but you never behaved arrogantly, despite your sometimes external manners. You were the one who encouraged students to give realistic answers, you often asked them questions, instead of answers, which put them in the positions of researcher and analyst, as many of them would later become. While you brought hope for change to us, your colleagues.
Then it was I who would join the protests in the streets and squares, for your release from political prison, without being a member of either of the parties you had been and were, but I was Ghina's friend and yours and I strongly believed in both of you.
Together we made a long journey...
I really "lost" you one day in April, when I came to your office and asked you to resign. You had made two choices, the final personal one and the political one, ephemeral, incomprehensible to me, with which I could not agree. You were getting closer (with an agreement signed on April 1) to the group that you had rightly denounced in the highest and decision-making forum of the Socialist Party of Albania for corruption, violation of the statute, vote theft within the forums, etc. But you were a class politician. Self-made, thanks to your intelligence, training, family upbringing, foreign languages that made it easier for you to get information.
I found you in the office, the day after, and I told you with humor, yesterday was April 1st… That's why I came today, to resign without hesitation!!! You understood me, you didn't comment and you sent me off (with a few tears) with the most appreciative words I've ever heard in my political career. You never held a grudge against me, but you continued to offer me positions that I couldn't always accept. Because I didn't know "big politics", but I was always ready for politics as a service. And I had said this and I had proven it.
However, that small part of your political path, from your chief of staff to the chairman of the Socialist Party of Albania, and beyond, although full of ups and downs and interrupted in the years after you, was beautiful. I was and remain deeply grateful to you!
I feel bad that I never told you.
You remain the most appreciated Prime Minister, especially of the socialists, although in mutual debt to each other. You publicly left the socialists, but they also left you. To return to you today "After death". But most of them, true friends, with sincere appreciation and gratitude. Socialists or not.
I'm convinced that you achieved a lot, but I'm equally convinced that you yourself would have liked to have made some choices differently. Today you closed it.
Farewell, friend, brother (this is how you convinced me to become your chief of staff). It was a privilege and a privilege to work with you, a rare friend! You will remain unforgettable for your family, for your people, the socialists and those who love the country, your many friends like few others!
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