Disappointed People

VREME: What would you do if you were the leader of the Albanian nationalist movement?

Demaqi: If I were the leader, I would change the entire political course. Tactics would be more important than strategy. I would not insist that we should have a republic, but would try to fulfill what the people have expected us to do since the 1991 referendum: make Kosovo an independent sovereign republic.

How would you accomplish this?

The way it is done elsewhere in the world - by using all the resources of a civilized people, mobilizing the entire nation, liberating or giving back what was taken in 1989. This would require sacrifices but they would be far smaller than what we have given so far, because I believe the Albanians have lost a great deal since 1990 both in the sense of quantity and quality.

You advocate a more radical approach. You are accused of being the instigator of radical movements inside the Albanian block.

My radicalism is within these limits: not a bloody conflict, no war, but not capitulation either. Anything that stands between the war option and capitulation is the policy I belong to. My radicalism is no radicalism at all. It is radicalism only for those who do not want to create anything but only to sit and wait for what they want.

I do not have the necessary information to tell who is responsible for the latest events. I cannot accept the theory that it is only Serbs who are doing things. The Albanians have hundreds of reasons more to do these things because they are enraged and desperate. Since their rage is not being limited institutionally, many people who are dissatisfied say something to see what will happen.

What do you think the Albanians should be doing now?

At this point they should abandon all parties because the parties are only splitting the people apart. The multi-party system has yielded no result. It should be given up and all the potentials should be united. This would create the power which would convince the Serbian regime that the Albanians are not joking.

If you had democracy...

This democracy is false, we can say whatever we like, but we have come to a point where the Albanians have no schools, no culture systems, no companies - they have nothing to eat. This kind of democracy is ridiculous.

What do you think Serbia ought to do?

Serbia as the stronger side, as the side which has made all the massacres and the tragedy, whose regime destroyed the former Yugoslavia must stop and think and openly speak with the Albanians, to see what we can make together.

Why don't the Albanians participate in Serbia's elections?

We know that if the Albanians entered the Parliament, together with the opposition, they could overthrow Milosevic's regime. The irony is that what these small parties are offering is even worse than what Milosevic is at least promising. In fact, Milosevic does what the opposition thinks. He is a lesser evil than what the opposition intends to do. They all agree that the Albanians should be given some minority rights and no one goes any further. Our political platform is to be equal with the Serbs.