Former Minister of Transport, Mr. Fatos Bitincka, was summoned on December 27 to the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office to be questioned over charges of abuse of office and document forgery. Abuse of office is said to consist in the fact that the minister annulled Telekom’s decision on the tender in favor of a foreign firm over another firm. The figures clearly support the minister’s decision, which, in considering the matter, was based on the report of a five-member commission established by the Ministry and headed by the deputy minister. It is also interpreted as abuse of office that it was not for the minister to decide on the change. Under the law and the interpretations supported by official documents that the Ministry of Justice and other authorities have made in this matter, the minister is fully entitled to clarify and decide on the most favorable competition. Therefore, in the case in question, there was no violation or abuse of office by the minister. Even stranger is the second charge of “document forgery.” It concerns the Council of Ministers’ decision on this matter, made this month. The decision was signed by the Prime Minister himself, based on the discussion recorded during the Government meeting. Minister Bitincka’s intervention to have the decision prepared precisely in accordance with the meeting’s conclusions, where the matter was discussed, cannot be interpreted as “forgery,” especially since he was not the one who signed the decision. This is the substance of former Minister Bitincka’s first summons to the Tirana Prosecutor’s Office. We will inform our readers of further developments.

May 1991 or December 1994? The resignation of the Meksi Government is demanded It is almost a month now that the Kukës strike has continued without interruption and, according to the latest reports, events are moving toward further deterioration. On December 27, 1994, from around 9:15 to 10:30 p.m., the strikers, supported by thousands of residents of the town and surrounding villages, clashed with special forces, who attacked without warning the building where the strikers had barricaded themselves. According to the strike’s chairman, Mr. Trota, the special forces used automatic rifles as well as incendiary substances. Three strikers were injured by incendiary substances, while a large, as-yet-unknown number of special forces personnel were also injured. According to the police chief, the entire incident was filmed by a German citizen who is there on a humanitarian mission. The stance of the district prefect, local government organizations, and the district’s political parties should be emphasized: all three endorsed the strikers’ demands and issued a joint statement calling for them to be met. According to Mr. Trota, the strike’s chairman, at the initiative of the district’s peasants, a solidarity rally with the strikers will be held today at 11:00 a.m., along with a demand for the resignation of Prime Minister Meksi and his government. Mr. Trota also stated to our correspondent, emphasizing that “if the Government does not resign by the appointed date and time, we will not be responsible for any incidents that may occur, since for seven months we have been deceived by the Government of Aleks.” Alarming reports are coming from the Kukës hunger strike. Reports as if from the ends of the earth—or, closer to home, from Asia—of clashes between police and citizens. Of people injured, wounded, burned... Reports that accuse the government first and foremost, and then everyone else. They accuse it of indifference toward a strike that has lasted almost a month. A strike that they attempted to break up by force, unsuccessfully (again). Reports carrying the message that citizens, angered by the indifference, no longer trust the government. Regardless of how much truth there is in these accusations, and of how undeniable these people’s plight is, a sincere dialogue could solve many problems. Even if their demands are impossible to meet. Accusations against the government over its responsibility weigh more heavily than accusations of indifference, more heavily than the special forces sent to disperse the “illegal” strike. These highlanders are asking for a little ... genuine ... understanding!

Although she had imprisoned him before he was 14, former political prisoner Artur Kici, from the district of Lushnjë, is now sitting on a panel of judges with Sotira Nako, who continues to hold the position of judge—the same position in which she sentenced Artur in 1976 for agitation and propaganda after he had written “Long live America!” on the walls of the city of Lushnjë.

As part of the PHARE program for 1994, the European Commission has approved the program for Support to the Public Administration, with a budget of 1.2 million ECU. Through ongoing and specialized technical assistance, this program aims to support the Permanent Group responsible for Administrative Reform; provide the means to strengthen the Prime Minister’s Administration by establishing an information and administrative network and a Documentation Center; contribute to the adaptation of ministries and Government Agencies to modern management methods in a market economy; and help strengthen the tools and capacities of local government in its activities. This program will be implemented by the TDI Company, which is inviting tenders for this purpose in the language of this year.

Yesterday the Albanian Telegraphic Agency celebrated the 65th anniversary of its founding. The anniversary was marked with a ceremony befitting the occasion. In addition to the inauguration of the new computerized news-processing system, a lavish cocktail reception was also held. The greatest jewel of this anniversary was ... ATSH. That day the telephones went unanswered and no news was transmitted. So yesterday, when it would have been normal for ATSH, in honor of the anniversary, to distribute two or three times the usual volume of information, it took the day off. Following this logic, the war in Bosnia and Chechnya had taken a day off along with “ATSH.” President Berisha, too, should not have held a press conference that day, and so on and so forth. What can we add to this? Through its 65 years of (non)work, ATSH has left the Albanian public very poorly informed about what has happened in the world. Even today, according to ATSH’s information, it is not known who is fighting whom in Bosnia, because the names of the parties to the conflict get mixed up. It is not known whether the Prime Minister of Turkey is called Ciler or Ciller. Whether it is Chechnya or Checheni. Whether Yeltsin is called Jelcin or Jelcin. Today ATSH marked 65 years of its official information service with a day of information blackout, with a total day off. What a botched piece of symbolism!

The capital’s madwoman N had taken a shovel and a pickaxe and gone out to the hills near the lake, where she was digging a hole. “What are you doing?” asked one of the curious onlookers who had immediately gathered around her. “I’m laying the foundations of the new Albanian University,” said madwoman N, planting the pickaxe in the ground. “This university will educate the nation’s maddest minds, on both sides of the border. It will be based on the brightest traditions of Albanian emancipation, without regard to anyone’s political, religious, racial, sporting, etc. beliefs. “This university will also admit foreign students. The most distinguished men from all over the world and from the diaspora will come to study. They’ll come to learn from us. We’ll also have initiatives there of strategic importance, such as neutrality and dynamism. Zhvlera and India will send their politicians to summer courses at this univer. “A special course will deal with respect for minority rights. In this area, we’ll have no competition in the world. The whole world will envy us. “Where’s the charter of your university?” asked a socialist pensioner who had come out for some fresh air. “I have the charter ready,” said madwoman N. “The Helsinki Charter will be the charter of this university. Yes, just a few more months until Europe gives up on it. I have also adopted the moral code of conduct for students and university teachers. It will be the Universal Charter of Human Rights.” After digging a few more shovelfuls, the madwoman walked away, threw the shovel far into the woods, and left shouting: “Where’s the University, where do you want this place for a kiosk? Ah, leave it, the university wasn’t meant to think.”

With these words, President Berisha began his answer to the first question at his end-of-year press conference. Among the government’s successes, President Berisha listed: the growing role of Albania on the international stage; the consolidation of democracy; the development of the market economy; political integration, as never before, with countries such as Germany and the USA, especially in the field of defense; and the adoption of the resolution on Kosovo by the UN General Assembly. Regarding foreign investment—a field in which Albania cannot claim to have achieved what was expected—the president identified the lack of infrastructure as the main reason foreign investors had not come. He did not rule out the impact of outdated technology and a short-term approach to the system and legislation, etc. Among the government’s objectives for 1995, President Berisha expressed the conviction that priorities should include further and extensive privatization, the distribution of securities, more rigorous enforcement of laws, stimulation of free enterprise by giving individuals greater scope, and the distribution of farmland to peasants so as to increase their interest in higher production. Regarding the status of TVSH, the president expressed the view that it should acquire public status and not be subordinate to any organizer. Private property must (continued on page 2)

With deep sorrow and indignation, we learned that the Macedonian police have unjustifiably arrested a number of members of the Parliament of Kosovo, which has a significant relationship to the fact that it proclaimed the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Moreover, the Macedonian police committed the disgraceful act of handing these members of parliament, who had taken refuge in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia because of persecution by Serbia, over to the Serbian police. The Macedonian police raided the offices of the Albanian University of Tetovo in order to prevent the registration of Albanian students. These actions demonstrate that the Macedonian authorities have deliberately violated the policy of respecting the rights of Albanians, in flagrant opposition to international principles and standards and those of the CSCE. We consider such positions to be in line with Serbia’s escalating policy of violence against the people of Kosovo. We denounce these anti-Albanian acts before public opinion and demand that the Macedonian authorities put an immediate end to them. PRESIDIUM OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ALBANIAN WRITERS AND ARTISTS FORUM OF INDEPENDENT INTELLECTUALS OF ALBANIA 28.12.1994

REPUBLIKA NEWSPAPER WISHES ALL ITS READERS A HAPPY NEW YEAR 1995!