They are approaching the election date, but have not decided June 16 is the most likely date for the upcoming elections. Yesterday, for more than an hour, Albanian politicians were guests of the President of the Republic, where they discussed mainly the possible date of the elections. The parties’ proposals ranged from the last week of May to the last week of June, and even the beginning of July. MP Afrim Jupi proposed July 4 as election day at the meeting. Nevertheless, the one who decides the election date is the President himself, who committed to free and democratic elections. The meeting also discussed the Central Election Commission and the electoral districts. It was agreed that if the parties had proposals on these matters, they would submit them in writing to the Presidency. The President informed the participants that the commission for vetting candidacies had been formed three days earlier and that the parties could begin submitting lists to verify candidates for parliament in the upcoming elections. Yesterday, a request was also lodged at the Presidency by the Right League for Right Reform for a referendum concerning the form of government. The League’s request was expressed through a petition signed by more than 100,000 people. Durollari spoke about this at the meeting, but the President did not give it due attention, perhaps because the election date itself was also a matter of discussion. Servet Pëllumbi (PS), Tritan Shehu (PD), Çerçiz Mingomataj (PR), Hysen Selfo (BK), guri Durollari (PLL), Zef Bushati (PDK), Lufter Xuveli (PA), and Afrim Jupi (independent MP) were the President’s guests. Representatives of the two social-democratic groups, PSD and PBSD, were absent. Laco says he was not in Tirana on the day the invitation arrived and, because the party headquarters was not fully organized, no one else could represent him. But, regardless of the content of the meeting between the President and the party representatives, and bearing in mind the experience of a similar meeting where the electoral law was discussed, in the end it is only the President who decides. Aurel Simoni.

[Photograph of people seated around a table with the number 5 in the background]

“The meeting of the Ministers of Defense of the countries of the Southern Balkans, to be held in Tirana from March 31 to April 1, is an initiative of Albania, which is interested in helping achieve security at the regional level,” Defense Minister Safet Zhulali said yesterday at a press conference. “This meeting is being held at Albania’s initiative. As a democratic country, deeply committed to strengthening the democratic state governed by the rule of law, deepening democratic reforms, and developing a market economy, Albania is very interested in and is making efforts to help achieve security at the regional level, preserve international peace, and strengthen the security of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula,” Minister Zhulali said. Those invited to the meeting are the Ministers of Defense of the Southern Balkans: Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Macedonia, and Turkey. The American Secretary has confirmed his participation. The Italian Minister of Defense has also been invited to the meeting as a neighboring country’s representative, as well as the current Chairperson of the OSCE and the Swiss Foreign Minister, Flavio Cotti. Continued on p. 2

The Japanese presence in Albania will no longer be merely theoretical or confined to the realm of wishful thinking. Yesterday, a group of Japanese specialists from the Japan Cooperation Center arrived in Tirana. The Center will undertake a study, extending to 2010, on the treatment of the capital’s waste and sewerage. Tirana is perhaps the only capital in the world that has never thought of cleaning up its waste accumulations or dealing with the deterioration of its old sewage system. This may be why the Albanian Government turned to Japan for help, a request that received a positive response from the Japanese side. So, Albanians will no longer imagine the Japanese only as computer wizards, but also as the people carrying out one of the most difficult studies for the city of Tirana. The study will take into account the city’s rapid demographic development, its industrial direction, and its meteorological, topographical, and geological conditions. Attention will be paid to socioeconomic developments, urban planning, and infrastructure. The study, which will bear the structural brand. The study that will bear the “made in Japan” label will be fundamental, and for this reason the Japanese side is requesting that, while it is being carried out, it be exempted from customs duties on the equipment brought in for the purposes of the study. The technology selected will naturally be entirely new and up to contemporary standards. Perhaps one day it will no longer be surprising for Tirana’s garbage not to form mountains, but instead to be processed and resold on the market; likewise, one day it may no longer be surprising when Tirana no longer reeks because of its sewers, deteriorated by time. A. N.

P. 3

• Marx appointed honorary chairman of the PS Electoral Commission....................p. 3 • The right finds refuge in PRSH....................p. 2 • “The matter falls within the jurisdiction of the Constitutional Court.”........p. 2 • The commission “buries” the dream of 50 MPs....................p. 3 • Albanian and Greek diplomacy faces a major test....................p. 4 • The “Embargo Missionaries” leave Albania....................p. 7 • Turkey’s integration into it is in Europe’s interest....................p. 5 • Rome, very beautiful, publicly painted....................p. 8